#i also just think there should be an equality in trope variation like come on when's the last time u saw a Thor forced pregnancy fic around

[worstloki]

You are one of those people who lowkey hates Thor. It's apparent from your frequent posts. You never even speak against it. It's like you enjoy it and if you think it's something to be proud of, okay then :)

why would I speak against canon Thor behaviour ? yea he WAS arrogant and pretty thoughtless at the start of his arc. was mean, even.

[jd-loves-fiction]

Hi! Can I request a friends to lovers with Itadori? Where they’re both mutually pining for each other and being nervous wrecks every time they meet, but all their friends keep pushing them together secretly😏 like “accidentally” leaving them alone in a room together and whatnot!

Ur writing is so fun to read, it always makes me excited!! I hope u have a good day!!💗

🌙 you're so sweet omg🥺 thank you and I hope you also have a nice day🤗❤️. Also, friends to lovers is my favorite trope🥴✋ so I'm gonna enjoy this😌❣️

[15:48] The color of Yuuji's cheeks closely matched his hair (as it usually did once he was anywhere near you) at the current position he found himself on.

His arms were around your shoulders as he kept you from falling over due to Nobara's strong push that sent both you and Yuuji into a random room, which she promptly locked as Megumi watched, unamused.

"We're not letting you out until you resolve what you have to resolve!" Nobara shouted from behind, clearly very frustrated.

"Hey, don't drag me into this." You heard Megumi speak, sounding somewhat tired.

The back and forth that followed slowly began to fade as the two students walked away from the room.

Meanwhile, Yuuji ran through every possibility his mind could come up with. Most of them involved some variation of breaking the door down, which would unfortunately get both of you into a lot of trouble. So he was quick to dismiss those ideas.

"So, now what?" You asked with a tense chuckle as you sat at a desk near the front of the classroom while Yuuji continued to look around for a moment before sighing. "No idea."

He sat on the desk in front of you, feet on the chair as he avoided your gaze.

"What do you think she meant?" You asked innocently, receiving a high-pitched, suspicious, sound in response, along with an equally suspicious shrug.

Of course Yuuji knew what Kugisaki meant. She'd been beating him over the head with it since she found out.

"Should we just call Gojo? I'm sure he'd help." Yuuji proposed naively, already taking out his phone to text his exuberant teacher.

"For some reason, I don't think he will." You fiddled with your thumbs as you spoke quietly. You looked up as you heard Yuuji let out an offended gasp.

'I should've known,' he thought dejectedly to himself. 'of course Gojo would be in on it too."

He stared grumpily at the message on his phone: 'Good luck!🤗'.

Now he really felt like punching something.

But he took a deep breath and nodded solemnly at you, putting his phone away and resting his cheek on his fist.

There was a low thrumming in the back of Yuuji's head, like knocking on a wooden door, before the deep voice of Sukuna sounded, echoing inside his skull, "Why don't you just tell them, brat? What's holding you back?"

The curse sounded bored out of his mind (as usual when regarding anything other than bloodshed not of his own), but besides the natural callousness of his tone, there seemed to be no aggression in his voice (for once).

Yuuji clenched his jaw shut in fear of accidentally speak with his mouth and not his mind, "What if they don't feel the same? I'd be ruining a perfectly good friendship! And what do you care anyway?!" He said mentally, aggravated by his needless comment.

"I don't, it just annoys me. All this longing and no action. You're a coward. A cowardly brat is what you are."

"What do you know about love?!" Yuuji yelled out with his eyes squeezed shut, not realizing he'd said it out loud until he opened his eyes to see you blinking at him. Pink exploded on his cheeks.

"Is he giving you a hard time?" You asked tenderly, getting up and holding his warm (and getting warmer) face in your gentle hands.

He had been so sure that you'd never reciprocate his feelings, but... Could there be a chance?

No, of course not, this was just how you were normally.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah. You know how he is." Yuuji chuckles awkwardly, ignoring Sukuna's affronted huff as he averted his eyes.

Your hands stayed on his cheeks as you stared into his eyes as they finally met yours, contemplating what it would be like to just lean forward, just a little, to connect your lips with his pretty pink ones.

"Huh... What's up?" Yuuji spoke as you just stared silently at him with wide, loving eyes.

You did as your heart wished, kissing him right on the lips, consequences be damned. All you wanted was to show your love, not caring if it was mutual.

But before you could pull away regretfully, a hand cupped the back of your head to keep you close as Yuuji moved his lips against yours.

You parted from him with a furious blush, "So...?"

"Ok so," Yuuji began, giggling as he placed his forehead against yours tenderly for a moment, "I've actually been crushing on you for awhile. I really like you." He chuckled nervously with an equally furious blush.

"That's good to know. Because I feel the same. Have felt for awhile now." You rubbed your thumb over his soft cheeks as a wide, beautiful smile spread over his lips before he gave you another quick kiss.

'Finally.' Sukuna spoke from within Yuuji's mind.

[dahlia-coccinea]

Childhood and Innocence in Wuthering Heights by Marielle Seichepine

I hear slight variations of this a lot, though not always ascribed to Freud (who I’ll admit I dislike so that may prejudice my opinion in this case). But still it’s the idea that Catherine cannot choose between her love for Heathcliff and Edgar? This follows the classic love triangle trope that I don’t agree with. Obviously she struggles with choice during her conversation with Nelly after Edgar proposes - but even then she makes it clear Edgar isn’t her first choice, and her reasons for marrying him surmount to it being socially acceptable and advantageous + the bonus that he is handsome, kind, and loves her. Her reason for not marrying Heathcliff isn’t confusion over her feelings, but it is socially unacceptable, her brother would cast them out, and she feels that he is unaware/uninterested in her love. Her lack of heartfelt commitment to Edgar is clear when she says, “I have only to do with the present.”

And it’s not that she “cannot imagine” any hurt feelings. She shows she does fear hurting Heathcliff when she says, “I want to cheat my uncomfortable conscience, and be convinced that Heathcliff has no notion of these things,” and again when she say Heathcliff “shall never know how I love him,” in order to prevent him any heartbreak. It’s not that she thinks both will just love and accept her. She thinks that as the situation stands, to marry Edgar would bring the “satisfaction of my whims: and for Edgar’s sake, too, to satisfy him,” and could help Heathcliff.

It is true, as Nelly points out she is “ignorant of the duties you undertake in marrying,” and doesn’t understand that as nice as Edgar is - most husbands are not going to accept what she’s asking for even if she keeps the extent of her feelings towards Heathcliff hidden. But she is motherless, 15, and has no other woman instructing her besides Nelly, so maybe that’s on Nelly if she doesn’t understand. 

By the time Heathcliff comes back and it’s too late for any discussions she decides that Heathcliff and Edgar must, for her sake, put up with each other. Surely she’s no longer idealistic as some people believe her to be? That she “deemed it judicious to moderate her expressions of pleasure” around Edgar and when he allows her to visit Heathcliff at the Heights “she rewarded him with such a summer of sweetness and affection in return,” which does really strike me as the stereotypical placating of a jealous husband. She knows better than to flaunt Heathcliff in Edgar’s face, and he at first tests how much he’ll be accepted there, he comes visiting when Edgar is not around, and her sending Isabella away on their walk is also very telling. She is obviously very protective and controlling of her ability to have access to Heathcliff and of the space they share. She clearly doesn’t think anyone needs to be privy towards however they get on - which is seen in her anger towards Edgar when she believes that he’s been spying on them.

Going back, her discussion with Nelly is the first evening after the first mention of marriage between her a Linton. She never thought Heathcliff would listen in on this conversation. How she would have broken it to him, and if he would have said something that would prevent her from moving forward, can only be guessed at. 

Its also notable that even after Heathcliff leaves she doesn’t rush to the alter. Even her unhappy home doesn’t scare her away. Nelly gives this insight about Hindley:

“He was rather too indulgent in humouring her caprices; not from affection, but from pride: he wished earnestly to see her bring honour to the family by an alliance with the Lintons, and as long as she let him alone she might trample on us like slaves, for aught he cared!” (bolding is mine).

It seems he must humor her and express great earnest in order to get her to marry - and it still takes 3 years. 

After their marriage it seems being Mrs Linton does alienate her. I suppose it could be asked that if Heathcliff never did return would she still perhaps regretting marrying a man who is so different from her? I think they could have found some happiness, but her “seasons of gloom” during what should be her honeymoon phase does say differently. We hear Edgar telling Catherine that before they married, “I was longing to have you under this roof,” but we never get an equivalent sentiment from her. 

Just a little test to the theory that she can’t give up either man - could anyone see, from what is known of the characters, if situations had been reversed and Heathcliff and Catherine married, would Catherine ever get so ill from the lack of Edgar’s nearness and love? She does say “for no mortal creature” would she give Heathcliff up and, “Every Linton on the face of the earth might melt into nothing.” So yeah I just don’t see that happening lol. 

Maybe because when I first read the book I didn’t pick up on a love triangle at all, so perhaps I can’t see beyond my initial impression, but to me Edgar is someone she loves but is not *in love* with. 

I’d love to hear other opinions on this. I feel from essays and comments I’ve read, the idea how much Catherine cares for Heathcliff and Edgar are on a large spectrum: from believing Catherine loves them both equally and is a proponent of free love - to Catherine doesn’t care for Edgar at all. It is kind of weird that there is such a range of interpretation lol. I’m in the middle of another essay that is very much a proponent of the free love theory and it is interesting but I also have a lot of problems with what the critic chose to mention or not mention, so I’ll probably say more on this topic later. I feel like that idea is definitely becoming popular - more than the stereotypical love triangle. Perhaps it has to do with our current changing attitudes on relationships and monogamy.  

[ltleflrt]

So I was having a conversation on Discord about omegaverse tonight, and my brain won’t shut up about it, because as usual I come up with my arguments after the discussion is over.  I should have been asleep 3 hours ago, but it’s hot and I can’t unwind, so I’m going to stay up EVEN LATER while the a/c brings things down a few degrees, and I try to get these thoughts out of my head.

I was pro-omegaverse, and trying to explain why *I personally* like the genre, and why I think even with it’s problematic origins and frequently used elements, it’s still a cool genre.  I was essentially having 2 discussions, but they were both using my answers to their questions, even though I was usually addressing them 1 at a time.  That happens when you’re in a Discord chat, and I wasn’t @ing my answers to them, since we were all in the room together.  And I think that cunfuddled the discussion and my thoughts.  So here’s a breakdown.

Issue 1. Biological Essentialism is gross and rapey.

Answer:  Yes, it is.  But so what?  Some people like pure rape-fantasy.  Is it healthy?  That can be argued either way, and it definitely depends on the person writing, or the person reading.  People like gross and rapey stories to get their rocks off.  Whether we like non-con or not, rape fics should be allowed to exist because some people like it.  It doesn’t matter if I think their reasons are valid.  As long as they’re not actively trying to harm someone, let people get down and dirty with their rapey fantasies.

Also, the whole biological imperative to mate isn’t that far off from Soulmate AUs.  Truemates = Soulmates.  Whether we like Soulmate AUs or not, are we also arguing that they shouldn’t exist because they’re problematic?  No, we’re not.  Soulmate AUs are romantic for a lot of people.  Let people have their uncomplicated, fluffy, 1 Destined Love stories.

Something to keep in mind though, is that not all omegaverse fics use the true mate trope.  And quite a lot of fics have characters with a lot more self control during their mating cycles than what you’d find in the short smutty one shots.  It’s common for them to avoid each other during heats, and only share their mating cycle as an act of love, trust, and devotion.  After they’ve been dating for a while.  (I love it when the alpha brings over snacks and water for the omega, and immediately hightails it out of there once they get a whiff of their sexy love interest.  “Take care of yourself, text me when you feel better, loveyoubye! *nyoooom*”)

Issue 2. It’s transphobic.

Answer:  This one is harder to argue, because yeah.  It can be.  But so can non-omegaverse.  Transphobia is, unfortunately, everywhere.  Exploring human gender through non-human gendered beings isn’t a bad thing though.  Cis people should be allowed to explore those things too.  This is step 1 to fighting the Patriarchy.  Questioning it.  Someone may come out of the experience still cis, but they’re going to be more open minded to trans people.  Not to mention, all the trans and enby folks who probably figured themselves out through the gender exploration to be found in omegaverse.

Now, if someone’s into omegaverse and they tell you they won’t read a story about a trans character?  Red flag.

Personally, I like the gender exploration in omegaverse.  Not just in the hormonal stuff, although I do kinda love the idea of seeing cis male characters suffer cramps once a month lol... but I like the stuff about social inequality that women have to go through mapped onto a male character.

I brought this up in the chat, and my use of the term “women’s issues” raised a terfy flag I think, which upset me and made it harder to make my point.  Cuz if there’s one thing I’m not, it’s terfy.  But I do see women’s issues as also trans issues.  Trans Men are treated differently after they start to present as male.  There’s a marked difference between their treatment as a woman pre-transition, and as a man afterwards.  And they still have to be really careful about accidental pregnancy.  I cannot fathom how awful the dysphoria would be for them if they get pregnant.  Trans Women are treated horribly pre-transition if they give any hint of feminine interests.  There’s a reason “girly” is an insult, and it’s because Toxic Masculinity Is The Worst.  And then when they transition?  Hooooboy, gods bless those ladies because Trans Women are treated worse than Cis Women on the social pyramid.  And Enbies?  Oh you sweet things, how the hell do you deal with the rest of us bastards? 

When I say that I am interested in seeing the characters I like deal with women’s issues, I am talking about social inequality, not just periods and cramps (although that a little bit too, because I wish a cis man could just fucking UNDERSTAND why I need a goddamn nap okay? lol), but also sexual health rights, including birth control, including the right to choose whether or not to take hormones, the right to equal pay, the right to equal education.  Feminism, for me, includes trans and enby folks at the table. 

But anyway, the characters I like right now just happen to be men.  I see Dean as a man.  That could mean he’s a trans man too, because trans men are men, yo.  Castiel I see either as a man or non-binary.  So if I want to put them through “women’s issues”, I have to plunk them in a special universe for that.  No one is writing Matriarchy AUs, so Omegaverse it is!

(Side note: If my OTP were f/f, I’d still like omegaverse.  And I could see lots of interesting ways to use all those same tropes for 2 female presenting characters.  So it has nothing to do with genitalia.  Unless it’s smut.  But I swing all the ways, so still not an issue for me lol)

(Side note part deux: I like to read trans stories too.  They have unique things about them that cannot be found in stories about cis characters, even in omegaverse.  And when I see Dean and Cas as men or enby, I’m not putting down people who like them gender flipped.  I just see myself enjoying Trans Woman Claire dating Enby Kaia, more than I’d like to see Dean or Cas written as cis/trans-women.)

Issue 3.  Internalized misogyny!

Answer: This is an argument used against women shipping m/m in general, and has nothing to do with omegaverse.  It just so happens that omegaverse was created for m/m pairings.  But there are TONS of reasons we ship more m/m than any other pairings, ranging from those are the most interesting characters presented to us, to--yes--internalized misogyny.  But I’m tired of that one.  Internalized misogyny is rampant, and telling women that their fantasies are problematic isn’t going to cure them.  There’s better ways to go about it. 

Omegaverse now covers m/f and f/f pairings as well, sooooo... yeah, this one just doesn’t hold water like it used to.  We just need to yoink the media out of the hands of the cis-men who are mostly in charge, and make them give us more compelling women to ship.

Issue 4: That’s not how human bodies work.

Answer: They’re not human lol!  Okay but real talk here.  This issue actually sounds transphobic to me, because it strikes very close to the XX vs XY chromosomes argument.  Omegaverse characters have intersex variations.  Alpha females and Omega males can have both a penis and a vagina in some fics.  It depends on how the author wants to write it, of course.  I usually go with the (horrifying) cloaca for omega males, and the (hyena inspired) psueudo-penis for alpha females instead, but to each writer their own lol

But again... not human.  Let wet buttholes be a thing, lube is expensive and sometimes the bottle gets tangled in the sheets, and you have to stop what you’re doing to find it and... anyway, convenience in fantasy sex is nice lol

In Conclusion: 

Personally, I only like non-traditional omegaverse.  The stuff that subverts the “problematic” tropes.  I was asked what I liked about the genre, and when I explained, it devolved into discussion of the topics above.  But I think what was forgotten in that discussion, was that I kept saying I don’t like the “problematic” things.  I like flipping the tropes.  Which I like in general, when I’m looking for things to read.  I mean, how many Castiel Thinks He’s Straight fics are there?  Not many!  So I wrote one!  Because flipping tropes is my jam! 

I don’t like Soulmate AUs, but with the proper twist I can still enjoy it.  I don’t like Highschool AUs, but I’ve read some that touched me so deeply I still think of them years later.  There’s always someone subverting the tropes I don’t like and turning them into something I do like.

And yet even though I kept saying I liked the subversion of the genre, the discussion kept coming back around to the parts of omegaverse that I *don’t* like.  I will still defend anyone’s right to like the parts of it that aren’t for me though, so I argued away XD

And? Sometimes I like the dark problematic stuff when I’m in the mood to get my rocks off.  Don’t judge, you’re all a little weird in some way or another ;D

Anywho, now that I got this stuff off my chest, hopefully I can sleep.  It has also cooled down by like 4 degrees, and I no longer feel like I’m going to melt in my sleep.  Tomorrow is going to suck, because I have to get up in 5 hours.  Yay!

[kashuan]

All right, there are quite a few things that come to mind with a question as broad as this, so here’s my best attempt to sum up what character design means to me in like 5 minutes :,D. I’m going to start with a few very quick sketches that talk about more my general approach to drawing, but I’m going to build up to how it all connects with character.

Step 1) Find reference! Whenever you can, use reference, it will always make your character’s posing look 100 times more genuine than anything you can pull from your brain, and that’s nothing to feel bad about. It’s not cheating because we’re not stopping at Step 2 either, which is where the misnomer comes in that you’re just ‘copying’ (protip: even step 2 isn’t a straight Copy; as long as you’re not tracing, you’re not copying, and even tracing has its uses for personal studies). I could do a whole answer of it’s own about picking your reference, but I’ll keep it short by saying: not every reference will fit every character. Keep in mind your character’s attitude when choosing your ref. Some poses are so generic they’re one size fits all, but even this very simple pose has unique character to it. The way the legs are posed, to me, gives it a young and girlish feeling, and depending how you played with the expression, you could even make it come off shy. An overbearingly confident character, while also taking an arms crossed pose, will likely position their legs differently, assuming a stance that takes up more space, etc.

Step 2) Draw pretty much exactly what you see first, but keep it simple. Think of the body like individual shapes; anatomy is not the focus right now, and you’ll actually hinder yourself if you hone in on that first. What you want to do at this stage is capture what the pose is generally doing; character isn’t involved yet Step 3) Now, working off 2′s framework, start considering body type. If you skip the previous step, you might have a hard time capturing the gesture correctly, since it’s a lot for your brain to juggle at once. When I sketched these two different body types, I built it straight off the first drawing, erasing lines as needed.

So the first image includes some extremely basic body type variations, this one pushes that idea further. 1 is the basic frame from the last image, while 2 is about playing with proportions. There are a lot of ways you can play with proportions, and as I’ll come to sound like a broken record about: make those decisions thoughtfully. For example, when I made this version shorter than the reference base, I had to consider exactly where I wanted her to lose that height. Here, I made her shorter waisted, took a little length from the legs, and gave her a squatter neck as well. You can do one of these or all of them. Just keep in mind those are all individual options. Letting your train of thought stop at ‘this character is short/tall so I’m just going to generally shrink/stretch their body’ means you’ll run out of variety pretty fast, and sometimes the overall proportions can end up looking wonky (though there’s always exceptions to the rule, remember that the individual body parts should remain correctly scaled in relation to each other). Image 3 is another approach to proportional manipulation, except rather than focusing on height, it focuses on fat distribution and to a lesser extent bone structure. Again, there’s so many individual places you can focus on here, make sure to mix them up. Arm size, shoulder broadness, chest and hip size, leg thickness and musculature, foot and hand size and so forth.   Image 4 is a further exaggeration of image 3 and the lines have started to get a little more stylized. While image 3 is still reasonably realistic, 4 is just starting to cross into cartoon territory. Advantage of 4 is that when you are able to push the proportions further due to the leniency of style, you can sell a clearer idea and a clearer character. Downside is, well, it looks more cartoonish now, and depending on the needs of your image that might not be what you want ie: it can look like a mistake rather than a purposeful choice if everyone else around the character is drawn more realistically.

Also… I see variations on this general advice quite a lot for women, but don’t forget about doing the same for men. It’s great to see how eager a lot of artists are to experiment with the female form that is simply absent in a lot of mainstream media, but I find that men really tend to fall by the wayside here even though they often get equally shallow treatment in the mainstream. There’s usually like 2-3 ‘go-to’ body types for men and that’s it. Men’s bodies can have the exact same amount of variety as a woman’s, including the individual ways the fat can be distributed on it, and the assorted ways their proportions can be played with. Whenever I find an artist that does this it’s like striking gold to me tbh. 

So there’s some very rough hows. But, perhaps even more importantly than any of that, is WHY you make these choices. This is going to get a little stream of consciousness, but with a question this broad, I tried to hit on as many general points I could think of in regard to my own process.

-When I start to design a character, I really need to have an understanding of them first. This includes things like backstory, personality, habits, so and so forth… Yes, all of this stuff shows up in their design, even if it’s just a drawing of them standing straight up. This isn’t just like ‘this character got this scar at age 7 so I need to know where it goes′, I mean in depth info about them. I touched on this a little bit earlier, bringing up the different ways a character would assume the same general pose, but let me expand on that. -What do I mean by personality? So there’s the most obvious answer, which is that a bubbly character will assume bubbly poses, a sullen character will slouch more, etc… But let’s take it further than that. This is a concept I’ve touched on in past tutorials, but here’s a quick recap. A character’s personality involves their opinions, for one; how do you make that show up in their design? Well, one of the most obvious questions I always ask myself is: what is their opinion on their own appearance (the thing we are drawing)/how do they want to be perceived by others? Consider a strong character. I see a lot of artists who take this thought as far as: okay, this character is strong, so I’m gonna throw a 6 pack on him, maybe a nice pair of guns, and call it a day. Which leads to like, nice art, but also...kind of bland? I think that’s because this is a rather half-baked approach. How can we take it further? Ask yourself more specific questions. Is your strong character concerned with being perceived as an ‘ideal’ sort of fit by others (the type you give that showy 6 pack to) or does that not matter to them? (more likely to look ‘chubby’ if not outright fat, though probably is just as if not more capable of actually doing some real heavy lifting than saran wrapped abs man). If they’re some kind of mystical being that can look like whatever they want (ie: the anime waif that can also lift 1000 lbs-trope), you should still take into account their personal perspective on appearance. Don’t just stop at ‘this guy/girl is strong so they’ll look super shredded’ or ‘they’re magic so I’ll do whatever’. Doing this, you’ve instantly lost a chance to inform the audience more about the individual there beyond ‘they’re strong’ -Break it down further with their habits. What is their daily life like? If they’re running ten miles every day they should probably have some strong looking legs. If their job involves a lot of lifting, maybe focus on the upper body more and leave the legs less defined. Do they eat a lot? Or drink? The way the fat distributes in both these cases will be noticeably different (and this isn’t even taking into account points like an endomorph vs an ectomorphs body, which I always suggest reading up on). I’d definitely recommend drawing as many different body types as you can just as studies, in order to add these variations to your mental library. I’m sure every artist has seen this popular athlete line up by now, but really study images like this. Don’t just mindlessly copy what you see when you create your own characters though; think about why those athletes have the bodies they have, what they specifically did to get them like that, and how that can apply to your character’s own life. -One thing that has always bothered me is how often artists are afraid to use the head (not the features; I’ll get to that in a second) as an extension of the body when it comes to imbuing it with variety and character. While it is absolutely possible to have a thin face and a fat body (as is any combo), it’s another missed opportunity not to experiment with chubby cheeks, a soft jawline, etc. It’s a cliche to mention him at this point as an inspiration, but one of my very favorite things about Mucha’s art was how he was able to make fuller faces look so beautiful despite being a rather nontraditional approach (so many art books try to tell you this is a big NO). example, example. These faces actually look like real individuals to me than a drawing that focuses too hard on being generically aesthetically pleasing. -So, facial features. A face with less traditional features isn’t just going to be more memorable than Stock Beautiful Face #73, but it’s basically a more zoomed in version of informing the audience about the character in the same way the body does. -Know tropes, play with tropes, do not rely on tropes. Sunken bone structure, long features-guy will always pretty much read like a villain (or at least someone off-putting), but find somewhere to make the formula your own. Give him thicker eyebrows or big ears. Give the girl with the standard doll-face a nose that sticks out a little more prominently or a crooked smile. -Speaking of are so many different ways to draw a smile, do not underestimate the mileage you can get out of this one feature alone. Artists tend to have a favorite way to draw smiles, in my experience, but remember your character. Would they have a big toothy grin, a handsome ‘cool’ looking smile, a small shy lopsided one, ones that touch the eyes, ones that don’t… This is probably a repetitive point by now but just do whatever you can not to draw the exact same feature on two different characters, and make sure to think through your reasoning for every choice you make. To me, it’s always immediately evident if an artist really knows their character or if they’re just trying to make something aesthetically pleasing. The former is always more attention grabbing in my opinion. -One of my favorite things to consider when designing a character who’s part of a family: genetics and how you can play with them to inform the audience more about the character’s story. Does this character take after their mother or father? How? Why? Why why, you might ask? This isn’t a photo of a real person, this is an illustration that you should be making deliberate choices about every step along the way. It’s one thing to draw a character that looks like their parent simply because logic dictates they should, another to make meaningful decisions as to where and why they do. Some examples: He has his father’s eyes because they carry the same intensity and other characters are a little put off by him because it (conversely, maybe he’s such a gentle character that this detail stands out twice as strongly). He has the same hair as his father, but he styles it differently to avoid the association. She has her mother’s nose which everyone compliments her on so shes happy to be seen in profile. She has her father’s broad shoulders and she’s a little self conscious about it so she tends to wear baggier clothing. Etc etc! In all these cases, you can communicate these details through even a simple drawing of the character standing alone, and should try to as often as you can. -In the end, the only way you’re going to know how to draw all these different details, whether they be different body types or different facial features, is by studying real people. Draw as many different kinds as you can, add them to your mental library. Your reference will never give you everything you need to work it, and I’m not sure if that’s maybe what this question as getting at-- if I have a reference folder of go-to ‘types’ or something. I don’t. I have a folder of poses labeled with characters I think they’d fit, and that’s about it. If you’re just imitating what you see in a photo, you’ll always be drawing That Person, not Your Character. So you are going to have to pull some of it out of your brain. Note, however, the important difference between just ‘making it up’ and recalling information you’ve studied in the past. That said, while on this last topic of expanding your mental library, that includes not just doing studies, but also learning and observing the ways other accomplished artists work. Here are some of my book recommendations when it comes to those which have most helped me in regard to this particular subject. This includes books that specifically tell you how to vary your body types, but also ones that just have a lot of examples of different kinds: Morpho: Anatomy for Artists Morpho: Fat and Skin Folds Famous Artists School Course in Illustration and Design (If anyone is interested in this one and has trouble finding a non $500 copy, hit me up and I’ll help you out) Spirit of the Pose Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters Drawing People: How to Portray the Clothed Figure Figures from Life (my favorite currently; not the most varied array of figures but he goes in depth on how to successfully grow an academic study of a model into an illustration influenced by your own ideas and personal style) If you found this answer helpful, although it isn’t specifically about character design, I go a little more in depth about some of the topics I briefly covered here (such as choosing the right reference, good vs bad reference in general, honing in on shapes, pushing the pose, etc) in this short book of mine :>

[troped-fanfic-challenge]

Voting for Chopped 3.0 Round 2 is Officially OPEN!

You know how voting works so we wont bore you with a massive post. Remember to rank fics based on the USE of the tropes and theme and to rank ALL fics in each question, so we can avoid any technical difficulties! Please try and read all the fics so you can vote fairly! Reminder, you must include a URL, and you may only vote once, we will NOT count multiple votes by the same person.

You can vote here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WQ9BNFS

Thanks to all our BRILLIANT writers, these fics are so exciting and we are so glad you decided to share them with us!! 

———

and i'll never say i love you (but i meant it all along) (Rated T) [Bellamy/Clarke]

Summary: When Coach, a dating system that pairs you with someone for an allotted amount of time and gives no way to bypass its rules, matches Bellamy and Clarke together, they find an immediate dislike for the other. Luckily, they only have to spend twelve hours together and then they can go their separate ways.

That is, until Coach matches them again. And again. And again. Until they start to wonder if something deeper is going on.

Or, Bellamy and Clarke in Hang the DJ

Per Aspera Ad Astra [Through Hardship to the Stars] (Rated G) [Bellamy/Clarke]

Summary: It's boredom one fateful night that leads Clarke Griffin to ditching the first basketball game of the season. That same boredom then leads to her choosing to hang out with one Bellamy Blake – which should feel weirder than it is since they haven't really been friends since his sister's disappearance two years ago.

But then their night really takes a turn.

The two of them discover a strange audio frequency that could change the small town of Arkadia, New Mexico – and the future – forever. Dropped phone calls, forgotten tapes, and strange lights follow Bellamy and Clarke as they race through the night on a scavenger hunt to discover the truth. That maybe there was something more to Octavia's disappearance, maybe there's more to their friendship than being just friends, and that maybe they aren't as alone in the universe as they thought.

through the muted waves (Rated T) [Murphy/Emori]

Summary: Scientists call the Tomorrow People the next stage of human evolution, the government denies their existence, but their cocktail of psionic abilities have made homo superiors the target of Eligius. Even though Eligius has closed the project that allows Tomorrow People to override their genetic inability to kill, they still relentlessly hunt them, desperate to neutralize their abilities. When Murpy wakes up in Eligius headquarters, he knows he’s returned for a reason...if only he could understand his connection to the brown-eyed girl who keeps cropping up on the corners of his memory.

in the red snares (Rated T) [Octavia/Lincoln]

Summary: The prevailing theory around the existence of Slayers (her existence) is that a variation of the alien parasite the miners unearthed deep in the Sub Stratum started infecting hosts in order to combat the vampire parasite. Octavia scoffs at the thought. The theory is probably right, especially since Monty is pretty confident in it, but she still hates the whole thing. The Slayer parasite really needs an upgrade in her opinion.

The Cockroach (Rated T) [Murphy/Emori]

Summary: “This is the cockroach hailing Mission Team Alpha. It’s Sol 30 here on good ol’ Planet Alpha. Not that it’s really a planet, but eh whatever. Technicalities, right? Anyway. Systems check. Arm: healing. Bugs: normal. Radio: shitty. Attitude: good.”

I'm No Hero (Rated T) [Murphy/Emori]

Summary: It’s 2052 and Reapers are wreaking havoc on mutants and humans alike. Murphy is recruited by Kane and Jaha to go back in time to prevent Octavia Blake from starting an international crisis that made the future much worse. But going back to the past comes with some side effects, mainly having to do with some relationships that Murphy left on bad terms.

from angels or devils (Rated T) [Octavia Blake]

Summary: Octavia was dead, and then she wasn't. The nuns say it was the gift of an angel, but they may not know as much as they claim.

Will she be able to learn to channel it's gifts, or will she be claimed by the villain who has followed the Halo through time and space?

Can't Tell if this is True or Dream (Rated M) [Echo/Gabriel]

Summary: “Do you understand your mission, agent?” A cloud of smoke punctuated the Director’s question, streaming from his mouth in thick, grey ribbons.

“I am to evaluate the necessity of the work Dr. Santiago is doing and report back at the conclusion of the investigation,” Echo repeated her instructions. Her lungs filled with second-hand smoke and she stifled a cough.

“I hope you appreciate the delicacy of this mission, Echo.” His intense gaze bore a hole into her’s. “Gabriel is not to know the nature of your assignment.”

She met his gaze with equal intensity as she stood up to leave.

“I understand, sir.”

There are some things written in the stars (Rated G) [Bellamy/Clarke]

Summary: Dear Bell,

I know you have a million questions. When I planned to come see you in Sau Paulo, I knew I wouldn’t have much time, and there was just too much I wanted to say. But also so much I knew I couldn’t. My only hope is that this journal answers some of your questions, and by some miracle saves your life.

My name is Clarke Griffin, a historian. We’ve never met before today, in your time at least. In 2019, I would be just starting my professorship at Arkadia University back in the states. That’s honestly the only reason Murphy didn’t fight me on seeing you — no chance that I’d cross paths with myself. He wouldn’t have been able to stop me, mind you. But he’s definitely the better pilot, so I’m glad he was on board.

I’m getting away from myself. It’s hard to remember a time when you didn’t just instinctively know what I was thinking. It’s felt a little like you’ve just known me my whole life, the way we’ve always been in sync. Let me start from the beginning, just rip the bandaid off…

___

Or the "Timeless" AU you never knew you needed. Submitted as part of the Chopped Challenge: Round 2.

Healing AIs, Healing Hearts (Rated T) [Octavia/Raven]

Summary: Raven and her mother were a perfect team, working with damaged and mistreated AIs and tech. When tragedy strikes, however, Raven has to figure out how to make it on her own. And then there's that new assistant her mom hired, making things interesting.

inconceivable (Rated T) [Bellamy/Clarke]

Summary: The first touch of his fingers on her wrists makes her whole body shiver. She’s so painfully aware of him being just behind her, of the wonder and the impossibility of his existence here, that she has to remind herself to keep breathing as he slowly picks apart the knots binding her hands together. “If I turn around, will you be gone?” she murmurs. “Is this a bad dream? Will you be dead again when I wake up?”

“I’m real,” he says softly, and finally the last knot falls away and her hands are free.

It's practically inconceivable.

(Chopped 3 presents: The Princess Bride. In space, bitches.)

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Ramblings and crazy theory time about GK chap 230 “Ienaga Kano”

So with the new chapter we get a split in the fandom on how to nickname Tsukishima. While the Japanese fandom goes for ‘Surekill-man’ a reference to a fanassigned nicknamed for a character in the ‘Jojo no kimyō na bōken’ universe, the western fandom went for something obviously more ‘western’…

…to be honest with various variations of the nick, from purely ‘The Terminator’ from the homonymous movie to ‘The Tsukishima’ or ‘Tsukishimator’ and so on (I went with the one that would fit better in the space in the image, that and Merdopseudo liked it, my apologies to the nicks not used, you’re all cool but ‘there can be only one’).

But let’s start with the chapter and with how Tsukishima gained this nick.

We left him having been injected a sedative by Ienaga and yet still managing to shoot her to death. It’s worth to point out Ienaga’s sedatives need some time to affect people and our Tsukinator is trying to take advantage of it to make a short work of Tanigaki.

Really, we knew Tsukishima, pardon, the Tsukinator was good at hand-to-hand combat but not really how much. Tanigaki is supposedly good as well, bigger than him and not drugged and our supposedly sedated Tsukinator is literally wiping the floor with him without even breaking a sweat and Tanigaki manages only narrowly to have him miss shooting his brain off.

Luckily for Tanigaki when it looks as if the Tsukinator will get better luck with his next shoot, the sedative kickes in (with the Tsukinator’s veins becoming rather visible as if they were some sort of monster crawling on his face)

and the Tsukinator’s falls, his face flat on Tanigaki’s ample chest.

Ienaga, still alive, tells Inkarmat, who’s naively trying to stop the blood pouring out of her, about how the Tsukinator wouldn’t SUPPOSEDLY be able to move for two hours.

Tanigaki, always the righteous, gives Ienaga a look that Ienaga correctly interpret with ‘why would a selfish, evil criminal like you do something like that?’.

Tanigaki represents that sort of naïve people that divide the world in two blocks, the purely evil ones and the purely good ones and misses how actually there’s a lot of middle ground in between the two groups and purely evil and purely good hardly exist if not in fairy tales.

As Ienaga did PLENTY of terrible deeds Tanigaki doesn’t care for her motivations nor expects her to feel also positive emotions like love or care and do something good like helping them. He put her in the box of the evil people and thinks there’s no way she would get out of it and do something good.

On the contrary side he perceives himself as being among the good guys, as proved by the previous chapter in which he said he wasn’t cold blooded enough to kill a friend, Sugimoto, conveniently forgetting he wanted to do the same to Kenkichi and that he did the same to Kiro (who saved his and Inkarmat’s life by the way) and doesn’t realize the ‘greyness’ in himself, feeling free to judge negatively Ogata and Nikaido for betraying Tsurumi but thinking instead that he is entitled to do the same.

This, of course, doesn't mean Tanigaki is evil, he’s merely human and therefore flawed.

I love this side of him as a character, I love how human Tanigaki is in his own good sides and in his own bad sides but, on the other hand it clearly makes me angry when he acts like a blind hypocrite. It’s human... but it’s no good at all.

Anyway Ienaga explains her own reasons which are… very simple.

Inkarmat, who’s about to give birth, is, for Ienaga, about to become ‘perfect’. Evidently the trauma of her mother’s abort, which twisted Ienaga and turned her into a bloody murderer and cannibal, rules her life not only pushing her to do heinous acts but also in a positive way. She wants to save this pregnant woman, she wants her to attain the ‘perfection’ neither her or her mother could attain. And it’s clear Ienaga is completely content with giving up her life for this, in fact she’s smiling and telling Tanigaki to not lose this moment.

Inkarmat is touched. Tanigaki just pulls Inkarmat up and tells her to leave without even a word of thank you for the person who gave her life so that they could escape. Inkarmat’s gaze instead is still on Ienaga and since she doesn’t seem to really try to get up I wonder if this is because she feels bad for Ienaga, for leaving her behind.

Not that she can be saved.

This, mind you, doesn’t mean Ienaga is now a good person or that she gets redeemed by this single heroic act. Ienaga is a terrible person who did terrible things and who’s helping Inkarmat only because, for her own reasons, she had come to care about her.

It’s entirely possible Ienaga doesn’t regret a single terrible thing she had done in life and, had she survived, she would have continued to try to chop people and eat them for their own purposes… except Inkarmat for whom she had grown fond.

On the other side the cover of the chapter, placed here and showing Ienaga’s body, depicts the sprays of blood that came out of her as forming a halo and wings, while the writing points out that Ienaga became perfect in that very moment, by giving her own life for someone else.

If this is Noda nodding to Christian faith again, the implication is that yes, Ienaga regretted what she did in the past and that she would be forgiven, not by men but by God.

After all, according to many, ‘Who saves a life saves the world’.

Yeah, yeah, among fans it’s a controversial topic.

The tropes of ‘death equals redemption’ and ‘redemption equals death’ are overused to the point they feel cheap and that’s due to fans themselves. As James Norrington said ‘The problem with a 'redemption' gig is, well, no one wants to see it. They all want to believe in it, sure, but to do it... it's as good as signing your own death warrant. Audiences don't want to see you redeemed, living a normal life. They'll never truly forgive you for your flaws as long as you're alive.’

Long story short, authors who decide to portray that EVERYONE can do a heel-face turn, that you can stop doing evil things, that is never too late to become a good person which is a great message really, also end up heroically killing off characters who decide to do something good for a change, so as to appease the fans who can’t forgive them and just want them to never realize the errors of their way and die a miserable death (or, when they feel merciful, spend their life being miserable).

Well, if that’s your kind of story, you’re free to roll with it.

De gustibus non disputandum est.

I’m personally not sure that, had Ienaga survived, after this heroic act of her, the trauma that pushed her into becoming the person she was, would be magically healed and she would become a morally perfect person... or at least as morally perfect as a human can be (not much really unless you’re in air of sainthood) and OF COURSE there’s no way she could ‘pay back’ all the people she killed as... well… they’re dead (I know there’s a lot of confusion about it but redemption isn’t about being forgiven, nor is about giving your life in a heroic way, redemption is about paying back the people you wronged... unless of course you use religion and have the character atone for his sins against God by redeeming himself to His eyes and not really by redeeming himself to his victims)  but I like the idea Noda is hinting this could have helped her to change their ways.

A perfect world would be perfect if all the criminals just were to change their ways and become good people, not if the jails could contain them all or if they were to drop all dead in a ‘Death Note’ style (though, when we talk about fictional works, there’s a bit of Yagami Light in all the fans… :P ). We need good men more than we need jails filled and corpses.

But well, this of course is just an utopia, sinning is addictive and changing your life is hellish hard. It happens even in real life, but is sadly very rare.

Anyway Tanigaki and Ienaga leave Inkarmat’s room only to meet up with Koito, pointing his gun at them. Tanigaki, who was pushing ahear Inkarmat, now places her behind himself but Koito is clearly torn. He’s sweating and chewing his lower lip as he lower his gaze as well before lowering his gun too and telling them to leave.

The two run away, always without thanking him, but then Tanigaki wonders why Koito left them go.

Inkarmat points out that when Koito was bedridden she spent a lot of time telling fortunes to him but Tanigaki rejects the idea. The Second Lieutenant Koito he knows wouldn’t have shown mercy to a person who had shown kindness to him.

While this is partially true, as part of Koito’s actions are clearly motivated by how he had lost faith in Tsurumi and Tsukishima due to discovering how he was used by them, I still think him letting Inkarmat go is also part due to him growing fond of her.

She was with him and cheered him up when he was wounded and weak and, in a way, in enemy ground. I think this was precious to him and Inkarmat, who’s clearly not a naive person, probably realized it. Koito knows he can’t escape, he doesn’t take that chance to run away as well, but it’s worth to mention if Tsurumi were to realize he let them go, Koito could end up in troubles as well and maybe he’s afraid Tsukishima too could put him in troubles since he warned him if he were to betray he would kill him. Koito also is risking his own life to help them, and, I think, is something he’s not doing solely out of the kindness of his heart but out of genuine care for Inkarmat.

She won him over a little.

It’s also sad how Tanigaki thinks that Inkarmat’s kindness should have gone unrewarded on Koito. He doesn’t think the time she spent with him would affect Koito, that he would grow to care for her. He sees Koito as a lost cause, a man uncapable of showing thankfullness and apprecciation for the kindness he received.

Koito is in another box for bad guys from which Tanigaki didn’t think Koito should have been able to get off and instead he did. People don’t change to Tanigaki, he has no hope for them to get better, to improve themselves, to develop positive relations or to do good thing. Once evil, always evil.

It’s a sad, hopeless and cold view.

I think even Nihei would be hurt by it.

Meanwhile Tanigaki put in action his ‘bright plan’ of escaping with Inkarmat on a horse a mean of transportation surely perfectly comfortable for a pregnant woman who could give birth at any minute and whose speed wouldn’t resent at all of the fact it has to carry two people, one of which at the nth month of pregnancy plus whatever Tanigaki has in those bags he hung to the horse and his own backpack.

Now… remember when I said the Tsukinator was meant to be out of commission for supposedly two hours?

Well, we wished.

The Tsukinator, despite the sedative, manages to get up, grab a rifle, shoot in Tanigaki’s direction and recharge before… falling again. Honestly I’m not sure if he has fainted or he just slipped off the bed due to lack of coordination. Nothing stop the Tsukinator as we’ll see later on.... but after all we knew it.

‘Listen, and understand, Tanigaki. That Tsukinator is out there, it cant be bargained with, it cant be reasoned with, it doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear, and it absolutely will not stop... EVER, untill you are dead!’

Too bad Tanigaki can’t hear me lecturing him about the Tsukinator....

Meanwhile as Tanigaki and Inkarmat escape, as it was easy to predict, the rocking of the horse of course starts to affect Inkarmat. Tanigaki realizes he was going too fast and, since they managed to make to the edge of the Otaru he thinks they’re far enough and safe enough they can stop there in an abandoned building.

As Tanigaki lights a fire, Inkarmat notes there’s blood coming from his head so he uses the Matanpushi (the headband Huci gave him) to bandage it, claiming he’ll be fine.

Honestly I don’t really find respectful to use that headband as a makeshift bandage as the Matanpushi has a religious meaning among Ainu, in fact it tells Gods where they are and calls their protection on the wearer. I can understand Huci using it as such, to ask the Gods to protect Tanigaki, but, as I doubt Tanigaki is now an Ainu Gods believer, it just feels a bit inappropriate.

On the other side in desperate times people would beg at whatever altar they would find and I also wonder if, in a way, this makes Tanigaki feel as he felt when he was escaping from Ogata and Nikaido so in a way he is hoping Huci’s headband will give him protection not so much through the Gods in which Huci’s believes but just because it’s Huci’s headband... which again is very human and also rather sweet.

(Besides there are huge chances Tanigaki has no idea of the religious meaning tied to it...)

We can also see that Tanigaki’s irises recover their light colour now that he’s wearing it so yes, I think it has a good psychological effect on him and it’s not just something he picked up at random.

Anyway Tanigaki plans to have them rest only a little and then escape farther.

Inkarmat notes Tanigaki is losing blood from his leg also, which Tanigaki thinks is the result of Tsukishima shooting at them earlier and which he notices only now since he was so busy escaping he didn’t even felt the pain it should give him.

While this is kind of normal and points rather well to Tanigaki’s inner state, so completely focused on escaping he basically didn’t even felt pain, not checking on his own conditions is a huge mistake. Not only loss of blood makes him weaker and could have caused him to faint, making him useless and giving Inkarmat more troubles but his dripping blood left a convenient track the Tsukinator followed till there.

And that’s why I think Tsukishima didn’t faint, he only fell because, on his feet he basically reached Tanigaki and Inkarmat who escaped on a horse in no time as they only apparently had time to light the fire before being discovered. The Tsukinator is even faster than Jason Voorhees in tailing after his victims despite being on his feet and drugged… but Noda has already assigned the comparison with Jason to Sugimoto so I’ll stick with the Tsukinator…

Anyway the Tsukinator tries to shoot Tanigaki but he narrowly misses him.

Either Tanigaki is lucky, due to the Matanpushi the Gods are really protecting him or Tsukishima is still partially affected by the sedative. Anyway Tanigaki tells Inkarmat to escape from the back as he tries to shoot the Tsukinator and… miss him despite the Tsukinator being only few steps from him as the Tsukinator lowers himself, pushes Tanigaki on the ground and then punches him hard.

Tanigaki, taking advantage of his superior size and strength, grabs the Tsukinator up and tosses him against a wall so hard the Tsukinator crashes through it.

Think this signs a score for Tanigaki? Think twice.

The result of Tanigaki’s efforts is that when Tanigaki grabs his rifle and tries to shoot him, the Tsukinator had all the time to hide, protected by the walls.

Tanigaki looks out, and luckily for him the Tsukinator isn’t into position yet as Tanigaki’s head would have been a beautiful target right then.

Way to go, Tanigaki, really.

Inkarmat calls him so Tanigaki reaches her and again they escape on a horse. Again.

The Tsukinator shoots Tanigaki in the shoulder...

...before faithfully ‘hopping’ after them at a leisurely pace with a calm and a determination that betrays how he took lessons from Pepé Le Pew only, to Pepé and Tsurumi’s displeasure, what pushes him forward to chase and attempt to kill Tanigaki, is clearly not ‘love’.

Anyway morning as come and Inkarmat and Tanigaki are still escaping on a horse, conveniently leaving blood track on the snow that the Tsukinator can follow. They might as well leave direction signs.

Tanigaki though is optimist. Now he has a rifle so, he thinks, the Tsukinator will keep more at distance (he wishes) and besides since he’s more at home in the mountains than him they will easily lose him if he will hide there with a pregnant woman about to give birth and for whom all those emotions and the horse ride clearly aren’t good.

As on cue and strictly following Murphy’s law, Inkarmat’s water breaks and Tanigaki’s oh so perfect plan to slowly reach the mountains and lose the Tsukinator there crashes when facing the logistics of how to deal with an impending childbirth that Ienaga had warned him was about to happen. But no, do not listen to the amazing doctor when the latter is also a criminal who just died to save your ass.

So Tanigaki APOLOGIZES TO THE HORSE because he is leaving him behind and mind him, this is nice and everything but what about thanking Ienaga, who died for you and Koito who risked his ass for you?

Meanwhile the Tsukinator moves closer following the trail of blood he can notice also in a bamboo grove… to discover Tanigaki’s horse which now has a wound on his leg, likely made by Tanigaki as the horse before seemed perfectly fine.

The Tsukinator understands he was misleaded into chasing the horse and his brain computer analyze the situation to set on a new course… and soon it’ll become obvious it’s not really difficult to get which one.

Meanwhile Tanigaki, who’s about to become father, carries Inkarmat bridal stile running through the snow repeating the classic sentences Panicky Expectant Fathers says to their wives when they’re about to give birth to a baby: ‘you can do this, grit your teeth and bear it, it’s gonna be okay, I’m with you, you can do this, everything will work out… yadda, yadda’.

Mind you, it’s nice from them as it’s not like there’s something they can do except saying such things and being of moral support with their presence but it’s a trope so abused seeing it in this scene somehow made me laugh instead than feel the drama that’s obviously looming over him and Inkarmat due to them being in an obviously very dire situation.

And it’s worth to mention that Inkarmat, same as all the other pregnant women, appreciates a lot Tanigaki’s efforts to reassure her.

Moral support might seem nothing much but sometimes it can also do miracles and it’s great to know there’s someone with you that encourages you when you’re in such a desperate situation, a rock against which you can hold so as not to be dragged away by waves.

So she smiles and hugs Tanigaki tightly and tries to hold on.

It’s a good moment.

Yeah, Tanigaki went into this without the sliver of a decent plan but at least he decided to stick with the people that were important for him and not leave them alone at the first sign of trouble.

Tanigaki has plenty of faults and flaws but, despite this I think it’s so IMPORTANT how he decided to stay with Inkarmat through thick and thin when so many other men would have washed their hands clean of her and the baby.

Maybe Tanigaki can’t give us lessons about planning or about not being hypocrites but sure as hell he’s trying his hardest to be a good companion and a good father and this is GREAT, really.

He’s wounded, he has lost blood and yet he’s running in the snow with all their luggage and Inkarmat, who’s pregnant, in his arms.

The Tsukinator can be scary in the way he doesn’t stop his chase but Tanigaki, who’s instead moved by love, is amazing.

Sadly though, Tanigaki isn’t really good at planning things and this definitely plays against him.

So Tanigaki, running like a madman, reaches the most predictable destination in the neighbourhood of Otaru in which he could hope to get help, Huci’s house, where we can see next to her the son of Sakamoto, the Lighting Bandit and O-gin who now had grown enough he can sit on his own.

While yes, in this place they can find someone who’ll help Inkarmat, it’s not like The Tsukinator couldn’t guess Tanigaki would take this course, it was obvious enough that escaping with a woman who’s about to give birth they should find a place in which said woman could give birth and Huci’s house is close enough so I expect the Tsukinator to figure this out and reach them in no time. I honestly doubt Tanigaki will manage to repeat the same trick he used with Ogata as, first of all, at this point it wouldn’t be wise to move Inkarmat for a while and this includes also just after she gave birth and he can’t leave her behind or she and her child will become hostages Tsukishima and Tsurumi can use against him or kill off in retaliation for his escape and this now includes Huci as well since Tanigaki has ended up involving her.

Due to Tanigaki’s huge involvement in Kiro’s death (Kiro died of blood loss mainly caused by the wound Tanigaki gave him) he’ll likely be a victim of the tiger curse and condemned to live an unhappy life meaning there are chances he won’t be the one to die here but that he’ll lose everything here.

Tsukishima is in no better position as he also contributed to Kiro’s death albeit in a smaller manner (the wound Tsukishima inflicted him did negligible harm compared to Tanigaki’s although it clearly didn’t help, actually it only speeded up Kiro’s death) so let’s talk a bit about him.

Tsukishima didn’t need to become The Tsukinator, as I called him through this whole rambling.

He attempted to stop Tanigaki, he was drugged, they went away, he could have told Tsurumi he just passed out, Koito kept on sleeping and be done with the whole business.

Tanigaki is just a man who wants to go back home, he isn’t interested in the gold hunt nor in stopping Tsurumi, he wants to get the woman he loves and have a family with her. Inkarmat is a woman who due to her past with Wilk ended up becoming a pawn to him and now she apparently merely wants to have a family with Tanigaki. The incoming baby has no fault of his own and can’t prove to be a threat.

Why just not letting them go? Why do they need to be killed or captured at any cost?

Is the baby’s actually Tsurumi? Did they experimented on the fetus so as to create the perfect soldier or the antichrist himself? Does Inkarmat know earth shattering  secrets that can’t be revealed to anyone?

Tsukishima was willing to let go Gansoku, a criminal. When Koito unveiled the truth Tsukishima let it slide as long as Koito played along with Tsurumi.

So why not letting go Tanigaki, Inkarmat and the baby?

Just because they aren’t okay with being used as a pawns like he is? Just because they want to have the ordinary happy life Tsukishima was denied? Or it’s because in this way it won’t come out Koito let them go?

I don’t know but I can’t say I like what Tsukishima is doing. He could turn the other way to save three lives, he could turn the other way as he does each time Tsurumi commits a crime and instead he decided to stick with Tsurumi against three people who, apparently, can’t really do Tsurumi harm. I’m really sad he chose to be that way.

On another note there’s something I wanted to remark in the past chapter but forgot about it so I’ll mention it here. I love how Noda handles Inkarmat’s pregnancy.

In many cases in manga a pregnant woman is often moving around like a not-pregnant woman, using her protruding belly like a hand rest and maybe being a little slow and fatigued but overall acting as she usually do.

Inkarmat moves exactly like a pregnant woman instead, not using her belly as a hand rest but protecting and holding it with her hands, taking it into consideration when she moves around and even when she’s in a seating position she clearly have to adjust it to make it comfortable for herself now that she’s in her 9th month. Noda really did his homework with her.

Anyway with this chapter we end volume 23, with Tanigaki coming back to Huci without Asirpa and with a woman about to give birth and a Tsukinator tailing after them in a situation that really sounds like it will become a déjà vu of volume 5.

Ogata back then didn’t want to shoot Tanigaki in Huci’s house so as not to have to kill her too and ended up allowing Tanigaki to get an advantage over him. We’ll see what the Tsukinator will do… and we’ll see what Tanigaki will do now as well, so as to ensure Inkarmat, his kid and Huci (as well as Sakamoto and O-gin’s baby) will get out of this safely.

Hopefully maybe, being back on the mountains will give him back his planning ability.

Using the horse to lead Tsukishima in the wrong direction wasn’t a bad idea even if the course he took afterward became then far too predictable. On a sidenote… in that circumstance Nikaido was there as well and Tsukishima watched as Tsurumi cut his ear. I do wonder… was Nikaido still at the hospital? Does he know what’s going on? Will he join them? And with whom he’ll side?

Tanigaki who caused him to be attacked by a bear or Tsukishima who stood by as Tsurumi cut his ear and would have let the latter kill him without blinking?

It would really be interesting to have Nikaido join the party with a ‘personal’ position instead than just the one of the soldier who has to obey to Tsurumi’s orders.

As the tiger curse said they’re supposed to live an unhappy life, unless I’m misinterpreting something, the curse won’t attempt to their lives, just at making them miserable. Still, we’ll see. I don’t want Inkarmat, the baby and Huci to die but I get this could be appropriate karmic retribution for Tanigaki. We’ll see.

In a way, while the previous chapter pushed forward a comparison between Tanigaki’s escape plan (or lack thereoff) and Ogata’s escape plan, this chapter is all a comparison in strenght and endurance between Tsukishima and Tanigaki. They fight, they keep on going even when other men would just give up, with a desperation and a determination that makes me think of Kiro in his last moments and that might be done on purpose in case the tiger curse is looming on them.

Kiroranke is looking down on them from above, seeing them as they struggle like he did, seeing them, who in the past had a good relation, fight without mercy like Tanigaki did with him.

We’ll see how it’ll end for both of them but sure thing the irony in all this is big.

Last but not least a question that’s going to stay unanswered for now. Who between the Tsukinator, the killer rabbit of Caerbannog, the 6 million yen man  and Jasonmoto would win should they come to a hand-to-hand fight? We’ll probably discover this in the future.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Akudama 2 - 3 | HypMic 4 | Yashahime 3 | Taiso 2 - 3 | Moriarty 2 | Maou-jou 3

Akudama 2

I think one or two of the reviews I read of this anime picked up the names of each episode are based on movies and it seems they’re right. Namely, episode 1 is Se7en while episode 2 is Reservoir Dogs...so they’re crime movies specifically.

Kanto, Hikari etc. are the names of certain shinkansen.

Playing with your own blood in front of a no violence sign and smoking in front of a no smoking sign…LOL. So edgy and yet simultaneously so fun.

…*blinks* Welp, that OP was…an experience.

…hey, Funi are hypocrites…they gave HypMic a language warning, but not this???

Come to think of it, this anime is already exactly how I’d imagine the HypMic MTC episode to go…but with more cyberpunk, of course.

…why is “are you gay?” an insult…? I thought we were past this point years ago.

…what’s up with these puppets? The shark’s shirt says “fool” on it…

The rabbit and shark’s shirts keep changing every time they spin. When they talk about poverty/rich, the rabbit shirts says “poor” and the shark’s “rich” (or something of the sort). When the shark talks about Kansai burning to the ground, his shirt says “nervousness”.

Wow, Hiroshima vers. 2…Rabbit: peace/shark:war

Hoodlum’s just a sycophant…

…ooh, so if the girl and Hoodlum aren’t part of the plan…they could f*** s*** up?

LOL, plasma shield.

“Lil’ stick”? That’s a jitte! A non-bladed weapon which is still plenty nasty by itself!

Ken the 390??? I knew UraShimaSakataSen were on this ED and I knew this was a rap ED because I heard it in AMQ before I was able to finish this ep, IIRC, but I didn’t expect the guy from BATTLE BATTLE BATTLE....

Taiso 2

A-hah! I was right on the money! Tomoyo is an actress!

Oh, it’s senu. That’s an old-timey way of negating your verbs (it’s shinai now), hence “retires not”.

I think they’re hailing Minamino as the first winner in 45 years if I understood the newspaper article on the screen right…?

Does this mean Minamino will join Leo and Aragaki…? The OP shows him with them.

The AnimeLab translation of the title is “Duelling Samurai”, but the translation on the hardsubs is “Rock-Bottom Samurai”. The word donzoko indicates the latter is correct.

I think Leo said “Rei-chan”, not “Rachel”. It’s a bit hard to hear because he’s eating though…

I think there’s only one line where he doesn’t talk like a ninja in his intro to Ayu and that’s the line where he uses keigo instead.

I think the card says “acupuncturist Kawa????” (can’t read the last character due to Britney’s thumb), but…welp, Britney’s kinda disturbing in their (not sure what pronoun to use) own way. There also appears to be an address in Ikebukuro on the card.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Leo learnt how to speak Japanese fluently from ninja movies – that’s a pretty common anime trope, like in Tada-kun’s Rainbow Samurai case. “Always make your heart rainbow!” and all that jazz.

…so that’s what the card said - Kawamoto Orthopedic Clinic.

“My shoulder would…”

Seriously, this anime is just an excuse to look at Aragaki in different outfits (and also shirtless) and I love it, LOL. (I’m such a simpleton.)

Ah…sometimes, people ask me about the days when I used to learn piano and I bring up the fact there is such a thing as “overpractice”. I thought gymnasts would know when they hit their limits in that regard, but…I guess they don’t because they’re so consumed in their passion, or they can’t see what they’re doing to themselves (because it occurs under the skin and doesn’t ache)…?

Minamino is basically Yurio…LOL.

That’s a cute, laidback ED. It’s called Yume? (yes, with the “?”) and it’s by Hatena, hence Leo’s shirt saying “Hatena”.

Welp, I don’t think anything supernatural will happen anymore, but…it’s still a fun anime. They toned down BB too, which should please a huge number of reviewers who found him obnoxious.

Yashahime 3

Hitokon? Short for ���hito control” (hito = person)? Update: It seems the name was also kanji for “flying head root”.

“…puts one to sleep.”

“…from a place like that?”

Can a Dream Butterfly steal memories?

Moriarty 2

“Colum” (sic).

These CGI horses are gonna bug me, aren’t they…?

There is this sentiment that people need to be “saved” from poverty, especially when it comes down to African and Asian people living in slums (these days). I get the same feeling from this.

Maou-jou 3

Free advertising for Maou-jou’s home magazine! LOL!

I was wondering why those things were called “Show the Mary”…remember Mezo Shouji from Boku no Hero Academia? Same pun (the walls have ears and the doors have eyes, or something of the sort).

LOL, instead of yokudekimashita (literally, “you did good”) it’s makura ni narimashita (“you made [the book] into a pillow”). The common sentence ending for verbs means it’s funnier in Japanese, I think.

…argh! I can’t read all of Alazif’s info because of the hardsubs! Umm…”Current worry: Princess” and “Worry of the past hundred years: Destroying the demon clan” is in the box next to the logo. “Powerful magic techniques are recorded inside this book, so the demons feared it and sealed it away as a ‘forbidden grimoire’.”/”Currently, under the control of the princess, they’ve been bestowing magic and magic techniques to her, so they haven’t been used for the purpose they were made for and they’re wishing the princess would use them for not-so-stupid things” (I don’t know what pronoun to give Alazif, so I gave them 3rd person “them)…ah, someone translated the stuff for me! (That saves me a lot of time.) So Alazif is a “he”, huh?

OHKO to Demon Cleric, LOL.

SAN…? Oh, “sanity”?

Oh, Demon Cleric’s ears are black goat ears. No wonder you can’t see ‘em.

This sword is like Ex from Princess, ‘Tis Time for Torture!

HypMic 4

From here until episode 6-ish, I’ll be paying extra attention to characters’ role language. I normally do that, but I picked this anime for an assignment because I knew it had a lot of examples…yes, you heard me right. An assignment! I should be happy, but I’m wondering if my taste is going to get roasted by the normies or if I’ve gone too far with my unabashed love…

I was discussing with some of my peeps in a Discord server and…is it possible MTR will get an ED from here on out if you divide the episodes up for an almost equal amount for each division? We’ll have to wait and see.

…Oof. I’m sort of scared for this episode. It’s gonna have swearing galore…and yup, there it is, right out the gate.

Wait, why not translate wakagashira? It just means “young head” or “2nd in command”.

…well, at least they got some variation in their swearing this time…?

Hmm, normally the translation is “rabbit cop” or something toned down like that. They dialled it up to “rabbity-ass cop”. (Yakuwarigo: Samatoki = na, on the whole = very, very slang – as a former naval officer, you would expect Riou to speak formally, but he speaks as casually as almost everyone else (yamero etc.))

I’ve never seen anyone refer to Samatoki as “Kashira”. *laser stares Rentei for guest VA roles*

(Yakuwarigo: Samatoki (?) = zo)

“…why don’t you ask the cops to deal with it?” – Uh, Samatoki? Jyuto is the cop. (Well, a cop.)

I still have no idea why they subtitle the laughing…

Wait, if there’s a casino…is Dice there?!

…yup, right on cue. I didn’t think Tom and co. would be there too.

Oh, LOL. HypMic is a tourist trap anime = see those buns Tom’s eating? They’re chuukaman (Chinese buns). Makes sense in Chinatown.

It took me several watches to realise who’d passed by, but it’s…MTC in formal clothes?! (You can see part of Jyuto’s face, just to confirm it.)

Why are they wearing glasses? Even Jyuto’s wearing different glasses to the usual, LOL.

I learnt how to do some of the casino stuff while trying to get a job as a gaming customer service assistant in a huge casino joint one time. In a sense, this brings me back to then. (Update: I mean, the sound of the roulette, the sight of the board, the chips and the like. That’s what takes me back.)

(Yakuwarigo: Dice slurs his words a lot, especially when yelling things along the lines of “Please lend me moneyyyyyyyyyyyyy!” This is also true in the game.)

Dice seems to have jumped straight to “Riou”, rather than “Riou-san”.  

I wonder if anyone will ever elaborate on that incident where Dice and Riou met?

(Yakuwarigo: Samatoki speaks coarsely, but not outright swearing in the source language…for an example, he says kussotare when roped into being Jakurai’s “female counterpart” for the ARB Halloween event, but he doesn’t do anything of the sort here.)

Even Ramuda uses “san” with Samatoki, most likely to emulate how Samatoki calls himself “oresama” (but with lower formality).

Ramuda-chin? That’s new.

Yakuwarigo: Gentaro spoke normally, just with desu/masu. Maybe the “perchance” was to make it blend in with his -de aru?

Uh-oh…Ramuda’s favours always are things like “dress up for me” and “hang out with me”, if the game is any indication. (One of them happens to be how Ichiro was roped into being a sorta-Kirito for the ARB Halloween event.)

This CGI…it’s not the jankiest, but it is gonna bug me ever so slightly.

I’ve noticed a lot of people in the English-speaking fandom, when they watched the anime, took a shine to MTC (because they seem to embody the entire “refuge in audacity” thing they’ve picked up on…plus that one hamster lyric people got attached to). You can see them being all “cop/gangster husbands” here if that’s your gig – it’s kind of my gig, but to be real HypMic is not a scene where I ship dudes. I’m sorry, but I just like watching pretty boys kick butt.

What warranted the dramatic glasses drop…? (LOL anyway)

That whistle…LOL. It’s like “Look at my boy fight” and “Riou’s got some sweet fightin’ moves” rolled up in one.

For some reason, when I saw the sign for the Organised Crime department, I heard the Student Council theme from Boueibu play in my head…? (Remember that harpsichord theme?) *shrugs* I dunno why that happened.

Hmm…they crossed out the subtitles using Swedish letters instead of strikethrough, huh? Didn’t know that was a limitation.

(Yakuwarigo: Jyuto = dazo)

“Wouldya look at that forlorn mug of his?” – Seeing a man taller than you (Riou is a good 190 or so cm, mind you, making him the tallest member of his division above Samatoki’s 180-something and Jyuto’s 170-something) making a sort of demented puppy-dog face…LOL.

(Yakuwarigo: Jyuto elevated himself to kimasuyo…maybe to win back Riou’s favour?)

(Yakuwarigo: The translation elevated Samatoki’s “nanda” to “the f***”. “Nanda” is not that bad – it’s casual, but doesn’t imply swearing like “ittai” is supposed to mean “the hell”.)

(Yakuwarigo: Jyuto doesn’t finish when he says “ore wa hanashi ga”. That’s called an omission, plain as that may be.)

(Yakuwarigo: Taihendaze!...Maybe that’s a bit far to call it “we’re f**ked”…? It could just be “we’re doomed!” or “we’ve got trouble!”)

(Yakuwarigo: Jyuto uses desune. He’s the most feminine of the trio by virtue of being the smallest height-wise and most polite due to his job, but he seems to bounce between casual and polite a lot.)

…wow, even the rap lyrics have the F bomb…and this time, you can see the evidence.

Natsu no mushi = bugs in the summer. Not a perfect match, but it works. (Notably, things like Gentaro’s speech and rap lyrics don’t play by the same yakuwarigo rules because you can play characters within it – e.g. the evil doctor Jakurai sometimes plays. I’ve noticed most of the songs use casual or whatever rhymes, even for someone like Doppo who’s considered more polite than most.)

…Despite the swearing…that song slaps, man! That’s great.

MTC seems to have more tragedy on average than other divisions. This is because FP and BB are quite light-hearted and mostly family-friendly with hidden depths, but MTR mostly has stalker stories. Update: That’s when they’re focussing on MTR solo. FP’s currently could get pretty dark soon and a lot of the dark/tragic stuff is not actually going to make the anime because it’s in the drama tracks/manga.

My gosh, we got to see Nemu animated!

Okay, I’m not well-versed in yakuza slang but kumicho = boss, so Samatoki would have to answer to a kumicho.

(Yakuwarigo: Notably, when Riou bows, he doesn’t elevate his speech.)

(Yakuwarigo: Jyuto = desukane)

…and randomly, rock solo postcard memory away from the sunset. (LOL) (Also, I believe I befriended Zainou during my time on WordPress. This episode title really does mean things, in a certain sense.)

Ah, it did switch! It’s just…uh, gone to an MTC version of itself (and it has the same name, “Kizuna”). So that means we wait another 6 episodes for MTR. On the other hand…what will the final version be? A whole cast version? A different song? No song at all? *shrugs* Only the future can tell us these things. (Also, why is Jyuto so loud…? That’s why I’m not a bigger fan of him. Much like Ramuda’s minna genki?, his iconic quotes like “In the building!” are so loud and silly-sounding, you just can’t get them out of your head.)

The cityscape in the middle of the disc at the ED’s start seems to have changed. I would assume that’s a Yokohama skyline.

Keiichi Nakagawa is the voice of Rentei…I should stop burning myself on guest VA appearances, this guy’s a rookie. This Nouzenkazura VA (Kenji Hamada) though is voiced by the guy who does Otegine in Touken Ranbu and isn’t as much of a rookie as Rentei’s.

Notably, where BB do the “BB sign” (as it seems to be known), MTC do a finger gun. MTR have the wolf fang, but…what is FP’s, then? Update: It’s a peace sign to the side to make an F.

Today’s new music was “Red Zone (Don’t Test da Master)”, by KLOOZ and DJ WATARAI.

*cringes at the airhorn* *briefly presses fingers to forehead, as if going to massage temples, but then removes them* The airhorn reminds me of crazy sport fans. Crazy anime fans are more civil than them, which is one reason why I don’t follow sports on the regular.

Update: Oh! The pond owl cafe in episode 2! It means Ikebukuro!...Sort of. Fukurou rhymes with ‘bukuro and ike = pond.

Akudama 3

Hmm? Is it just me or is that T in the code the kanji for “bird” (tori)?

“It’s where I belong.” – I know my reason for pursuing Japanese is a purely selfish reason – so I can stay above others in the topics I think matter to me and pursue the endless natural high that comes from the thrill of translation (which may be all one reason or two, depending on how you look at it).

Oh, the bunny and shark again.

The bunny’s shirt said “life” at one point, I didn’t understand the shark’s though.

At one point, shark: Ka (from “Kansai”), bunny: ken (authority).

At the end, shark: heaven, bunny: hell. These broadcasts look like NHK broadcasts at the end.

Most of these words are katakana, making them look foreign.

Kansai 300, 25-1.

“Move-you-s**t!” – It…seems a bit out of character for Swindler to say the swear word there.

Taiso 3

That CGI…is not the greatest.

According to Moon Land, gymnastics operates on a deduction/addition system. You add points for difficulty, but deduct points for errors like how Minamino’s feet are apart.

*sees montage* - Those CGI scenes really take out the budget, huh…?

Gymnastics moves are named after their creators…kinda like scientific names and finders.

There was a lot of commentary in Moon Land so I’m not sure what the moves are called from memory (the dialogue always did that for me), but having the reactions speak for themselves…I think the anime team has enough faith the reactions will convey everything. They did, by the way.

You can see the bone at the base of Minamino’s neck, under the skin…it’s sort of scary.

The fact you couldn’t see Jotaro’s eyes for a shot or two…that kind of unnerved me and built tension.

Oh! The men in black appear after the credits!

[all-the-heart-you-cannot-see]

A Defense on Femininity

 summary: recently while watching this video something Lindsay said resonated with me a lot, and then while talking to @shadow-summoner something else came up than kinda tied up to what she said, so i decided to do this essay defending femininity in YA and the other girls no one in the ages of 12 - 16 wanted to be like.

on the video i linked up there there is a part where Lindsay says that the reason twilight got so much backlash was not because of how bad it was, but because of how much we as a society hate teenage girls, we hate their music, the media they consume, the way they dress, what they read, we read everything about them and then when they try to distanciate themselves from that, we hate that too.

the im not like other girls girl has kind of become a meme over the past few years, she is edgy, she has colored hair, she hates pop music and listens to indie artists, she hates pink and makeup and doesn’t wear typical highschool teenage girl clothes, she, contrary to her counterpart, has depth, cares about other things different than typical highschool boyfriend drama.

there are many variations to this girl, but ultimately they were all developed by us, the innocent girls passing from childhood to our teenage years, trying to do everything we could not to be the bottom of everybody elses joke, and instead ended up becoming another.

Eventually, this not like other girls trope leaked into the world of literature, more speciafically into the world of YA. now, there are a lot of tropes in this kind of book that i find kind of annoying because of how often they are used, and some that i find just extremely problematic, most of these are more commonly used in the extraordinary world of wattpad, but we all know this 12 year olds didn’t come up with them, they copied them from other forms of media.

but the one im going to talk about here is of the awkard duckling girl as oposed to the blonde feminine highschool queen, in fantasy books this can be translated to  our extremely good at fighting protagonist as oposed to our minor villain the gorgerous girl who is not afraid to use her physical beauty as a way to get what she wants.

now, it’s been a while since i’ve read any YA, and i have the most terrible memory ever, so don’t rely on me to name every single book that falls into this trope, but you and i both know that they exist.

what i hate about this, is the demonization of femininity. I have nothing agaisnt a strong independent women who don’t need no man and saves the world while flipping the bird to the patriarchy. i LOVE them ok? i know female characters whose greatest atribute is not the way they look are important for little girls, they are the best role models you could have while growing up, that’s not my problem.

my problem is how we’ve kinda villified femininity by using this trope, what first got me thinking about this was reading The Winners Curse. Kestrel, our protagonist, is pretty useless at hand to hand combat dispite being trained in it her whole life, she is kind of a typical ball gown loving girl, she avoids fighting everytime she cans because she just wants to be left alone to do music, in fact she’d rather get married than become a soldier.

reading Kestrel and the way she thought and how she solved problems was a breath of freshed air in a genre plaged with characters like Kestrel being villified in other stories.

my whole point with this is that there is nothing wrong with being different than the typical feminine girl, i geniunly find nothing wrong with female characters who physically fight their way out of the situation they are in, but there is also nothing wrong with beign feminine, femininity should never equal weakness, just because a character can’t fight or just because he or she rely’s on his looks to get what they want doens’t mean they have nothing else to offer or that they havee to be relegated to a minor villian who annoys or protagonist the whole way through.

which again takes me back to our other girls. 

listen kiddos, this may come as a surprise for some of you who think you are not like toher girls, or for the ones who actually take the meme seriously, but people are multifacetic. im a damn nerd, i love sports like im a middle aged dad with 4 children and i loooooove fashion, our personalities don’t have to be tied to one archetype, and the fact that i can walk in 12 inch shoes shouldn’t be a motive for everybody else to doubt whether my interest in sports its genuine or because i like to watch sweaty hot dudes.

so like, get over it people of the world and writters, let femininity be a good thing again, i promise it wont make your characters any less bad ass. 

[dent-de-leon]

Because I’ve gotten countless asks and shitty replies on all my posts about this, I’m addressing it right here and now--why I still ship sheith and it’s not “dead,” here we go:

So, let’s get started with the dreaded ages thing that always comes up, just get that out of the way. According to the guidebook, they were 18 and 25 respectively at the start of the series. Shiro hasn’t aged in the astral plane. Since, you know he’s been dead. And it's more or less implied that Shiro has been gone for months, and then they meet Lotor and there's the whole time that conflict plays out, then we fastforward to after he lays low and keith says "Lotor hasn’t been seen for months.” We can infer that more or less a year has elapsed since Shiro’s death/disappearance. Adding in the two year time skip, that puts them at about 21 and 25 respectively. You know, a completely reasonable age difference. 

There’s literally nothing indicating Keith was adopted by Shiro period. You realize the guy was probably like 19/20 around that time, right? No 20 year old is out here going to college and thinking ‘hey, why don’t I adopt a teenager?’ I should know--I sure as hell aren’t. You barely feel like you can take care of yourself and a houseplant at that point, let alone a whole other person. 

People claim that Shiro had the “power” to send Keith back to the home because he was his guardian?? That’s not the case. He vouched for Keith, which is how he ended up in the garrison in the first place. When Keith tells Shiro to just throw him back in the home, he’s referencing something said by the other officer only moments before--the only reason he’s here is because of Shiro. One word from Shiro, and literally the whole thing’s off. Keith has very limited options here, and he knows it. 

Shiro seemed to be a recruitment officer sent to Keith’s school to look for new cadets. We can tell because Keith isn’t in the cadet uniform in that shot--he’s in a school setting in plain civilian clothes. Shiro is standing at the front of the room in his officer uniform, and it seems that the teacher is introducing him as a kind of guest speaker. Then there’s the flashback where he and Keith are standing beside Kogane’s hoverbike, implying that Shiro saw his skill as a pilot firsthand and was determined to get him in the garrison--to secure him a better future. Krolia’s thanks to Shiro is in relation to what we already know--that Shiro was there for Keith when he had no one, that he led him down the right path and changed his life for the better. His “guiding light,” as the show runners have said. 

But then they got older, and it’s very clear their relationship changed. The two are equals from the start of season 1, that much is obvious. Now that Keith is older, he’s able to protect Shiro in turn. In fact, more often than not, he’s shown to be the one caring for Shiro instead of the other way around. He’s the one always running to Shiro’s rescue and saving him from certain doom. Some people are so stuck on the flashback, but it’s painfully obvious that he’s no longer a child--after the time skip, he’s been explicitly referred to as a man. I think Keith looked up to Shiro a lot when he was younger, but now that he’s so much older and they’re closer in age, now that he’s had all this time to ruminate on it--there’s clearly something else there.

And Shiro sees Keith in a whole new light in turn, which is clear when he’s so thrown off by seeing older Keith. “Lance is right. You have changed.” I don’t understand how people can acknowlege two characters can change without their relationship evolving in turn--these have always been dynamic characters, nothing is static. It’s like how people claimed Allura was still annoyed by Lance and wanted nothing to do with him after she explicitly said she enjoyed his company. You can acknowledge that characters’ relationships are subject to change, that they can grow and develop and be organic, and move on. 

People latch onto the brother line and insist I can’t read, but then promptly ignore the fact that Kuron was completely unmoved by it. The thing that actually breaks through to him, that yields a very gutting, visceral reaction--that’s Keith’s breathless admission of, “I love you.” He also looks completely shocked by it, which doesn’t make any sense if this was coming from a familial love context that he was familiar with. 

In this season, sheith also covered a number of timeless romantic tropes reserved for a character’s love interest. The same exact tropes that fans praised as High Romance when they presumed it would be in relation to k/l, but then immediately backtracked to “oh,, it’s just familiar!!” as soon as those plot points were given to sheith instead. Shiro and Keith’s relationship is also shown to directly parallel Kogane and Krolia, as well as Zaggar--both canon romantic relationships. Not to mention the very noticeable korrasami parallel. You know, as if their relationship was designed to be interpreted as romantic. 

This is also literally the one and only declaration of I love you in the entire series, something not even explicitly romantic couples like Keith’s parents or Zaggar have shared. It’s completely unique to Shiro and Keith’s relationship, and holds just so much gravity to it. This isn’t even taking into account that distinctly romantic variations of “love” were used in other dubs, such as the Japanese aishteru. 

Nevermind that it’s common for someone that’s gay to refer to a close friend of the same gender as being “like a brother/sister” to avoid confessing their true feelings. Hell, I’ve done it before. And I’ve seen so many other LGBT people express relating to that aspect of Shiro and Keith’s relationship, that it’s a struck a cord with many other fans like me. 

When you’re talking about wanting LGBT rep--rep that Lauren and Joaquim mentioned they have been working towards and fighting for since the beginning--but then you willfully ignore and tear down the one relationship that’s been built up like that, when you understand that they might not have been able to get the explicit rep they wanted but still demonize the subtle hints of it, when you make actual LGBT fans feel like shit for identifying with this sort of narrative--you’re really missing the point. 

You know what else is very telling? That this was the one episode Joaquim directed himself--he cared so much about Keith and Shiro’s dynamic, he wanted to just go all out and really made the episode his. That’s how much this episode--this dynamic between Keith and Shiro--mattered to him. Here’s some commentary on it:

Marc: “Speaking of credits we’re not used to seeing—Joaquim, you wrote an episode!”

Joaquim: “I did!…Super excited. You know, it’s one of those things that I wanted to do for many, many years now, and finally got to an EP position. I said, ‘Guys, I’m just gonna write one of these things. And, you know—I’m emotionally attached to both Keith and Shiro, and had some ideas on how that episode could play out.”

Marc: “So you’re the one that has to decide how the battle between Keith and Shiro pans out.”

Joaquim: “Somewhat. Along with a consortium of awesome writers, and Lauren, board artists—yeah.”

Lauren: “Everything in animation is teamwork, but it was definitely Joaquim’s brain child. 

Joaquim: “…when you’ve gotta go back and do painful story edits on scenes that you wrote, it feels like somebody’s limbs are getting cut off.” (source)

Let’s also not forget the brother line has been used for a number of relationships that still became canon--Aang and Katara, Ed and Winry, Ginny and Harry, ect. And lastly, before you still want to call me a monster, let’s not forget that the staff supports sheith in a romantic context, and has since the beginning. They also are more than happy to talk about their intimate relationship. But I mean, of course,, the staff must hate us for this, right? Surely, they never intended for this relationship

to be interpreted as

potentially romantic,,

And sure, it could be that sheith will never be canon--or that it will to some degree, but not explicitly--either way, there’s literally no reason to demonize other fans for shipping it. Especially when the staff themselves have always supported it. If you think you need to take the time to comment on every single sheith post that “they’re only brothers!! You’re disgusting!!!” ect, don’t expect the staff to ever support or even tolerate you, becuase you are the reason both they and the fans are feeling alienated, you are the ones continually harassing the staff for just wanting to have fun. Besides, Shiro and Keith already have “the closest relationship” in canon--Joaquim’s words, not mine--and they love one another. Literally nothing can take that away from them, and if LGBT fans see themselves in these characters, who are you to lash out at them for it? 

[cometomecosette]

Marius and a Shakespearean trope (warning: long and rambling)

I've been listening to the podcasts of Dr. Emma Smith’s Approaching Shakespeare lectures from the University of Oxford. In the lecture on Much Ado About Nothing, she points out an interesting trope found in Shakespeare’s comedies – as well as a wider cultural idea – that I had never really thought of before, at least not in depth. The trope is this: that in a man’s youth, male friendships and social bonds are his most important relationships, but that as he matures, those bonds “must” lose importance in favor of romance and marriage to a woman.

Smith cites this trope in Much Ado About Nothing to explain just why Claudio trusts Don John and not Hero (in his culture and stage of life, male “friends” are inherently placed above women; in the end he matures by learning John’s deceit and reconciling with Hero) and to interpret Benedick’s character arc too (moving from a misogynistic, male friendship-centered life, to embracing his love for Beatrice, and to choosing that love over male friendship by agreeing to kill Claudio). She also discusses the similar “love vs. friendship” themes in Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Love’s Labour’s Lost, All’s Well That Ends Well, The Merchant of Venice, and in a tragic variation, Othello. While she doesn’t mention this theme in Romeo and Juliet, I thought instantly of two essays I’d read in the past that highlighted Romeo’s dilemma of “Juliet vs. Mercutio.” This is definitely a recurring Shakespearean theme.

I wish I were taking a literature course, because I want to write an essay about Les Misérables’s use of this trope in Marius’s character arc. Particularly in the musical, where Marius is much more “as one” with his friends than in the novel and “love vs. revolution” (which is implicitly “love vs. friendship” too) becomes a central dilemma for him. I already have so many thoughts on the subject, but no definitive conclusions.

I suppose we could argue that, tragic though it is to watch the Amis die and for Marius to lose all his friends, on some level they “need” to die so Marius can fully devote himself to Cosette. I also find myself thinking of Combeferre’s speech in the novel about women – how Hugo highlights the moral grayness of choosing to die for a cause (and for male friendship) when there are female loved ones and dependents left behind. We could discuss how Enjolras’s single-minded, woman-excluding devotion to the masculine world of revolution is framed as both a virtue and a flaw. We could observe that all the doomed revolutionaries are either those who have no female loved ones or those who value the cause, and the male friendships associated with it, more than their mistresses, mothers, etc.; whereas the survivors (Marius, Valjean, and the unnamed husbands and fathers who leave) are the ones who can prioritize female loved ones and live for their sake. We could argue that the Amis are ultimately “forever young” in death, while Marius’s maturing and moving forward are tied to his love for Cosette.

This trope is played even more straight in the musical, because the musical’s Marius is so strongly defined by his relationship with his friends and by the conflict between his new feelings for Cosette and those masculine bonds. We might argue that the musical’s “schoolboys, never held a gun” portrayal of the Amis (i.e. Boublil and Schönberg’s projection of 1968 onto 1832 – that constant annoyance for Hugophiles) implicitly ties their cause to “youth,” particularly “naive youth,” and suggests that Marius can only really grow up by leaving it behind to build a life with Cosette. We could think back to Romeo and Juliet and argue that just as Romeo’s friendship with Mercutio lures him back into the feud while his love for Juliet leads him away from it, Marius’s bond with his friends also leads him to violence (albeit idealistic violence against oppressive forces, very different from street brawls and honor killings) while his love for Cosette leads him to peace. We might notice a parallel between Romeo’s choice to avenge Mercutio’s death by killing Tybalt and Marius’s choice to fight at the barricade rather than follow Cosette to England: sadly for Juliet and Cosette, neither boy can fully place his female beloved above the ties of male friendship. And in both cases, this (immature?) choice of friendship over love leads to disaster: for Romeo it causes the tragic downward spiral that ends in his death and Juliet’s, while it nearly costs Marius his life at the barricade, with only his love for Cosette saving him (via Valjean) and healing his grief after his friends’ deaths.

Of course both the novel and the musical’s uses of this trope are complicated. If Marius’s coming-of-age journey “must” involve losing his friends and leaving their cause behind, it’s impossible to fully approve of that fact. After all, we love the Amis and we love their cause. They’re the characters who fight against all the social injustice the story speaks out against: we root for them to win, are devastated when they lose, and in the musical we admire Marius for being one of them. So much of the fandom’s unfair disdain for Marius and Cosette comes from the fact that he lets their love distract him from his friends’ noble fight. It’s nothing like the brawling youth culture or sexist military culture of Shakespeare’s Verona or Messina, which the young heroes more clearly need to grow beyond. Yet Cosette’s status as the story’s living symbol of hope makes musical-Marius’s dilemma even grayer.

Then of course there’s the question of how to feel about this trope of “female love replaces male friendship” in the first place. On the one hand, it feels empowering for a straight woman to be told that her man “must” eventually place her at the center of his life, above all platonic “competition.” Especially when (as in several of the Shakespeare examples) his male friendships are associated with violence and misogyny. The fact that women in Western culture have traditionally been dependent on men also makes it feel right that adult male responsibility should equal learning to prioritize women.

But on the other hand, it’s a bit of a heterosexist idea. It implies that adulthood is incomplete without marriage, devalues platonic love next to romantic love, and since it associates manhood with leaving other men behind in favor of a woman, it leaves no room for same-sex romance. If we do view the Amis as needing to die to “make room” for Marius and Cosette’s marriage, the implications regarding Enjolras and Grantaire are especially unfortunate. (Ditto for Shakespeare’s Mercutio, if we view him as queer-coded.) I’ve also seen what a burden this trope can be for women in real life; how much pressure is placed on a wife to be everything to her husband – romantic partner, caregiver, and best friend – because he’s drifted apart from all his old male friends and emotionally depends on her.

I still don’t have a coherent thesis about Hugo’s use of this trope, or the musical’s, but I’d love to find one. If I ever do take a literature course that lets me examine this topic, I will.

[mysterylover123]

Maiko + Tropes

Back to Avatar the Last Airbender, where it all started. It’s time to do tropes for my ATLA OTP: Zuko/Mai. Prepare for some teenage grouchiness. (Sourced from TVTropes.) Also, Spoilers

1. ADORKABLE

Mai:  Mai is not normally very adorkable, but around Zuko she gets all giggly and blushy. They express their love in very awkward and adorable ways. The B-story in "Nightmares and Daydreams" is a good example.

Zuko: All of his attempts to be a normal and friendly guy end up charming failures. Notably, he practices an apology to a frog, then proceeds to demand an answer.

2. ANTI-VILLAIN

Mai: Though not to the extent of Ty Lee (what with being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold instead of a straight-on Nice Girl), she is still only going up against the good guys because she works under someone who is evil.

Zuko:  An early episode contrasts him with Zhao, who only wants to find the Avatar to bring himself glory while Zuko was only even there is to complete a mission so his father will love him.

3. BETA COUPLE

Mai:  With Zuko. 

Zuko: With Mai. While Aang and Katara dance around the issue, they're snuggling and watching sunsets. Flipped on its head in the comics, where Zuko and Mai go through a bad breakup while Aang and Katara are relatively stable Sickeningly Sweethearts.

4. BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Mai: With Zuko. They're both perpetually frowning Emo Teens with some kind of family issuewho are from the Fire Nation and use bladed weapons.

Zuko: With Mai. They're both perpetually frowning Emo Teens with some kind of family issue who are from the Fire Nation and use bladed weaponsWith Katara. They're both willful, compassionate, and emotional individuals who lost their respective mothers at a young age and are about equal in terms of bending abilities.

5. BROKEN BIRD

Mai: Her mother treated her like a liability instead of a daughter, was not allowed hobbies or even to speak unless spoken to, and her only friends were Ty Lee and Azula. No wonder Mai is so cynical and bitter.

Zuko: A rare male example; any innocence he had was lost between his father's and sister's abuse.

6. BROODING BOY, GENTLE GIRL

Mai: Zig zagged with Zuko — Both manage to be both with each other. For the brooding part, they both come from a dysfunctional family which led to them becoming Broken Birds but in different ways (Zuko having anger issues and Mai suppressing her emotions). As for the gentle part, both encourage one another to express themselves in healthier, non-problematic ways.

Zuko: Zig zagged with Mai — Both manage to be both with each other. For the brooding part, they both come from a dysfunctional family which led to them becoming Broken Birds but in different ways (Zuko having anger issues and Mai suppressing her emotions). As for the gentle part, both encourage one another to express themselves in healthier, non-problematic ways.Katara is the gentle girl to Zuko's brooding boy - they are a platonic variation of this trope, despite the Ship Tease.There's a very brief moment of this with Toph and Zuko - in "The Ember Island Players", Toph comforts Zuko while he's angsting over his Uncle. They go back to being Like Brother and Sister, though, when she punches him and informs him that "That's how I show affection."

7. CHARLES ATLAS SUPERPOWER

Mai: While turning her back on Azula at the Boiling Rock, she managed to consistently pin several guards onto solid metal architecture, using the same knives with which she attacks everything and everyone else. More passively, she's on even footing with the average elite bender, such as Early-Season-2 Katara and half the Terra Team sent to attack The Drill.

Zuko: While one of the most visibly muscular characters, he once punches a person across a room, and is seen shattering iron, steel, and wood with his kicks. All that training has served him well. Might be a result of Iroh's training: even among the Fire Nation, Iroh and Zuko are the only ones to display superhuman strength unrelated to bending.

8. CHILDHOOD FRIEND  ROMANCE

Mai: In a flashback, we see her admiring Zuko from afar as kids.

Zuko: With Mai. There's a flashback to Puppy Love.

9. DEADPAN SNARKER

Mai: Has a very dry sense of humor.

Zuko: Since Zuko's the most ill-tempered character in the show, this is a given. He's actually a lot like Katara in that respect: particularly sarcastic in books one and two, less so for a part of book three, and then more so for the other half.For instance, after some random kids threw an egg at Earth Kingdom soldiers, they blame Zuko, who continually denies it. It eventually leads to this exchange:Gow: The egg had to come from somewhere! Zuko: Maybe a chicken flew over.He also manages to get in a few good ones at Sokka, of all people:Zuko: I think I'm a little past your level, Sokka. Why don't you practice with the Duke or something. Sokka: The Duke? But he's, like, eight years old! Zuko: He should be a good match for you, then.Even eight-year-old Zuko gets in on the action.Azula : You waste all your time playing with knives. You're not even good! Zuko : Put an apple on your head and we'll find out how good I am!

10. DEFROSTING ICE KING/QUEEN

Mai: Much like her boyfriend, except it takes her longer to thaw.

Zuko:  It takes two and a half seasons, but he thaws with The Power of Friendship.

11. DUDE/CHICK MAGNET

Mai: Besides Zuko, another teen flirted with her in "The Beach", and Kei Lo admits to genuinely liking her.

Zuko: Sometimes in a relationship with Mai. He has loads of Ship Tease with Katara and a temporary love interest in the one-off character of Jin. The comics also have him being ship teased with Suki. Has almost as much onscreen romance as Sokka, plus a fan club and a bunch of random girls that swoon over him at the beach.

12. EERIE PALE SKINNED BRUNETTE

Mai: Emphasizing her emo personality.

Zuko: During the first season, where he has chalk-white skin coupled with a black ponytail. It later evens out slightly; sometimes his hair is dark brown instead of straight black, and he adopts a very slight tan that takes the edge off the eerie. That said, cutting off the ponytail and growing his hair out properly probably also helped.

13. HIDDEN DEPTHS

Mai: The gloomy knife thrower is a Cool Big Sis after off-screen Character Development.

Zuko: Badass, Determinator, Evil Prince -turned- The Atoner, is also a Momma's Boy and a lover of Turtleducks. In the "Ember Island Players", he gives hints that he likes theater, but just dislikes that specific group because while they have great special effects, they tend to butcher their stories. He admits to Toph that he's been doing Angst? What Angst? for some time, but the play is opening some hidden wounds.Toph: "Oh come on. Lighten up. They're just having fun." Zuko: "Fun? Of course you (Toph) like it. They made you a big buff guy! But to me... they're taking all the mistakes I made and throwing them right back in my face."His Uncle has indicated numerous times Zuko is also skilled with the fictional Tsungi horn.

14. JERK WITH A HEART OF GOLD

Mai: Generally quite a jerk but she has a soft spot for Zuko.

Zuko: He's Hot-Blooded and can still be quite rude, but Zuko is a good hearted person.

15. KICK THE DOG

Mai: In her first appearance, she turns down a hostage deal for her own infant brother.In the comics she dishes out a lot of emotional abuse against Zuko, although she still claims to care for him. She jokes about his death, his choice of friends after meeting Aang, and talks about how awful he is in general to Kei Lo.

Zuko: Often when he was in danger of becoming too nice, at least until his formal Heel–Face Turn in Book 3.

16. LONELY RICH KID

Mai: She has no friends other Ty-Lee and Azula, and they were off at the circus or war.

Zuko: He is the banished prince of the Fire Nation, but you can literally count the people who genuinely care for him on one hand (Iroh, Mai and Ursa). Eventually subverted when he makes his Heel–Face Turn, after which he becomes part of Aang's True Companions.

17. LOVE REDEEMS

Mai:  She follows Zuko in Heel–Face Turn because of his turn and her love for him.

Zuko: Averted with Mai. He leaves her before switching to the good side and the two don't reconcile their relationship until after the final battle. Instead it was familial love for Iroh, whom he acknowledges as his true father figure and role model, that redeems him. The shame he feels for betraying his uncle's trust is part of what compels him to make his Heel–Face Turn. He also influenced Mai to follow suit and betray Azula.

18. THE MASOCHISM TANGO

Mai: Her relationship with Zuko is not healthy. The two love each other but their conflicting morals and lack of communication leads to countless fights and their constant break-ups. She spends pages in Avatar: The Last Airbender – Smoke and Shadow describing what a horrible boyfriend Zuko is and how badly a relationship with him had hurt her. This leads to her making harsh jokes at his expense and she expresses the need for her to "move on" by dating Kei Lo.

Zuko: Has this type of relationship with Mai. They love each other but constantly fight, do not understand each other, have different morals and are always breaking up only to get back together again. Mai tells Kei Lo about how miserable Zuko makes her feel and she later says it to Zuko's face about how much of an idiot she was to date him.

19. MEANINGFUL NAME

Mai: Mai is the Cantonese pronunciation of 袂 meaning "sleeve of a robe", which is where Mai conceals her weapons.Her name is phonetically similar to the Japanese mei (冥, めい), meaning "dark", which is relatable to her gloomy personality.

Zuko: Zuko's name is written in Chinese characters which read as "ancestor's robber". It may or may not be intentional, but Zuko is an actual name in a Filipino dialect. Its meaning? "Madness" or "Angry." And he spends a lot of time angry in the show...

20. MUGGLE-MAGE ROMANCE

Mai:  In a relationship with Zuko.

Zuko: In a relationship with non-bender Mai.

21. NEW OLD FLAME

Mai: She and Zuko are a textbook "skip all the boring foreplay and get right to the intensity." Contrast with the heroic Official Couple, who were in the foreplay stage for fifty episodes. In this case we see a flashback of them as Childhood Friends before the reunion.

Zuko: Zuko and Mai are a textbook "skip all the boring foreplay and get right to the intensity." Contrast with the heroic Official Couple, who were in the foreplay stage for fifty episodes. In this case, we see a flashback of them as Childhood Friends before the reunion.

22. NOBLE DEMON

Mai: She may be on Azula's side, but she's not evil.

Zuko: Character Development for him in Season 1. He goes from burning down the Kyoshi Warriors' village in his pursuit of Aang to abandoning a later pursuit to keep his soldiers safe. Even right from the start, he threatens the South Pole villagers to get information on the Avatar but when Aang promises to come quietly if he leaves the Water tribe alone, Zuko agrees (and keeps his word).

23. OPPOSITES ATTRACT

Mai: She and Zuko somehow manage to be this and Birds of a Feather. Despite their apparent similarities, their temperaments are completely opposite: Zuko is a Hot-Blooded Determinator, whereas Mai is an emotionless Defrosting Ice Queen.

Zuko:  He and Mai somehow manage to be this and Birds of a Feather. Despite their apparent similarities, their temperaments are completely opposite: Zuko is a Hot-Blooded Determinator, whereas Mai is an emotionless Defrosting Ice Queen.

24. PERPETUAL FROWNER

Mai: Even when she's cuddling with her boyfriend she's frowning.

Zuko: "I'm never happy." Though it is averted around Mai, and after he joins Team Avatar.

25. RED ONI, BLUE ONI

Mai: The blue to Ty Lee's red. Or, since Ty Lee describes Mai's aura as grey, and hers as pink, Mai's the Grey Oni to Ty Lee's Pink Oni.

Zuko: The emotional, easily angered Red Oni to his sister's calculating, eerily calm Blue Oni, though it's reversed after her Villainous Breakdown. This is enforced by the colors of the Flames they produce; Zuko's flames are red/orange, while Azula's are blue.The hot-tempered, loud Red Oni to Aang's positive, peace-loving Blue Oni, which is visualized through their facial markings (red scar vs. blue tattoos)

26. RELATIONSHIP REVOLVING DOOR

Mai: She is in a constant on-off relationship with Zuko. It's unstable to say the least. They get together only to break things off a few months later. They make up but then decide to call it quits again. It is supposed to be a contrast to Aang and Katara's solid relationship.

Zuko:  His relationship with Mai is complicated and...unstable to say the least. They break up at least twice in the series and once again in the comics.

27. SOUR OUTSIDE SAD INSIDE

Mai: Like Zuko, she acts cold as a result of her past.

Zuko: He may act abrasive, but knowing his past, it's not hard to see why.

28. TALL DARK AND SNARKY

Mai: A raven-haired Snark Knight. It's a trait she shares with Zuko.

Zuko: Tallest teenager in the series with raven hair and a cynical attitude.

29. TOOK A LEVEL IN BADASS

Mai: Mai already established herself as a badass (but quiet and knife obsessed) Lady of War took a level in badass in the episode "The Boiling Rock, Part 2". Mai took out 13 prison guards and freed the gondola line to help Zuko and company escape the boiling rock prison...and Princess Azula. Although this could just be a case of Mai being Not So Stoic.

Zuko: He gradually improves throughout the series, but he makes dramatic improvements in season 3. It's then he learns to redirect the most powerful of lightning, holds his own against his sister, casually raise a huge fire tunnel that engulfs an entire hallway, and most importantly, firebends without relying on rage.

30. UNDYING LOYALTY

Mai: To Zuko. Even when their relationship is on the rocks, she remains loyal. Two instances: the Boiling Rock encounter where Zuko explains his treason and desertion and inspires her to defy Azula herself, and again in the "Rebound" free comic day issue where she discovers her father wants to use her as an insider against Zuko in a bid to put Ozai back on the throne.

Zuko: This is Zuko's greatest weakness and greatest strength. Loyalty kept Zuko on the side of his father and sister long after he stopped seeing things their way, but when he finally made up his mind to join Aang, he took a lot of punishment from them without complaint to win their trust, and he protected them over and over. In the sequel, Zuko abdicated the throne, naming his daughter Fire Lord, so that he could travel the world after Aang's death, to keep their dream alive while the Avatar could not.

31. WHEN HE/SHE SMILES

Mai: Just like her boyfriend, she frowns so often that she looks really cute when she smiles genuinely.

Zuko:  The poor guy is frowning so often (and for good reason), the few times he gives a genuine smile are really heartwarming.

32. WELL, EXCUSE ME PRINCESS

Mai: To Zuko. She doesn't put up with his angsting.

Zuko: Something of a male version of this trope in regards to Mai. She doesn't put up with his brooding and temperamental nature, instead encouraging him to lighten up.

[evakuality]

Some thoughts on writing and characterization

I’ve seen a lot of discussion in the fandom lately about how to write characters and to what extent it’s okay to change canon characteristics in fic, and I guess in art too.  One comment I saw really stuck with me and I want to explore the ideas behind it a little more.  Now I just want to clarify here that I’m not telling anyone they have to write a certain way or that any idea in any post I happened to see (and which I can’t remember now where I saw it, so I can’t even credit the person with that idea) is wrong.  I just had some ideas which were pinged by that one comment in particular and the whole discussion in general.  This is messy and my own opinion only.  I’m well aware that other people think other ways, I just want to record how I feel about it all.  Also, as usual, this got VERY long so … uh, beware of that.

So, the comment I saw claimed that making Isak smaller and slighter and weaker than he’s shown in the show, or making Even actually taller and stronger is just a preference and that doing so is perfectly fine because who’s to say that in the parallel universe represented by the fic that those things aren’t true.  And okay sure, in some ways that’s fair.  We don’t expect things to be exactly the same in an au.  Different situations will inevitably end up with characters having different outlooks, and I get that.  I write that sort of thing myself, and there’s a real joy in thinking ‘how would changing x thing about y character affect him or her while still keeping them recognizable?’ But for me that’s different to what we’re talking about here.

What’s happening here is our fics taking actual physical traits of the actual actors and changing them.  And unlike personality characteristics, these aren’t things that could believably be changed.  To be clear here, I’m not talking about ‘what if Isak were a fairy?’ (I love that fic!) or ‘what if Isak were trans?’ (I love that idea too), but rather a tendency to write a ‘changed’ character as if he were an actual part of the canon.  The difference is subtle, I know, but the distinction is actually huge.  Again, I reiterate, we can all write what we want etc etc but I think exploring this difference is important in figuring out why we as fandoms write the way we do.

Deliberately changing something to wonder ‘what if’ is quite different to writing a certain set of tropes in a certain way.  Because the thing is, if it really were just people having a preference we would have a much wider variation of these traits presented as if they were canon.  Let’s do a thought experiment.  Let’s say someone writes a fic.  It’s labelled Isak/Even and presented as if what’s inside is just the sort of variation you’d find in a parallel universe.  In it, Even is a small Asian guy with dark hair who is physically unimposing.  Isak is a tall, broad, very muscular body builder.  There’s no ‘what if’ and no hint that this is out of the ordinary.  Indeed, the fic treats this as just how they are in canon.  None of this is tagged because that’s just Isak and Even, no big deal.  How many of us are squinting at that going ‘what? That’s not Isak and Even; how can the writer of that fic not say that’s a deviation from what we know?’ I think we can all agree that this fic would be strange, and we’d instinctively go ‘this isn’t Isak and Even’ because it’s not.  I think those sound like fascinating characters, and I’d love to read about them, but they aren’t Isak and Even.  I’ve also seen people saying ‘don’t like, don’t read’ but in this case that doesn’t apply because it hasn’t been tagged.  There’s no way before going in and reading that fic for us to know that there’s something that’s been changed from canon.  

So why is it okay for us to say ‘parallel universes so they’re just like that’ for one set of characteristics and not the other?  Why do we shrug and accept tiny, weak Isak but we find it difficult to accept tiny, unimposing Even?  Why is it that a particular set of tropes are an acceptable preference that can just be dumped into a fic as if it’s canon but others can’t be?  And why is that particular set of tropes that’s permissible the set that allows for a heteronormative reading of the text and the pairing?  We do a disservice to the characters when we do just shrug and accept this as just the way it is and don’t examine why we like it.

Because the important thing here is that these tropes are not just an Isak/Even thing; they occur in practically every fandom that has a popular m/m pairing.  I’m not in the fandoms for Harry Potter, Merlin, Supernatural, Glee, Marvel etc and yet I have heard similar comments about pairings in all of them.  Some fandoms even come to blows if you put the ‘wrong’ character in the ‘wrong’ role (Supernatural fandom, you are always fascinating to me).  It was never quite that bad in Skam, but there was a long time when people were vilified if they wrote Even as the bottom and people were tagging bottom Even and making author’s notes because they were so worried that they would call down the wrath of the fandom on their heads.  This is ironic since the only canon hint we have about their sex life strongly suggests that Even was the bottom in that case.  And you know, if this was just harmless fun, people writing what they like and posting it for free, I’d probably be okay with it (though I’d beg for it to be tagged so I could avoid this stuff that I don’t particularly want to read).  But the thing is there are two problems here: 1. It’s so ingrained in this fandom now that we now consider this ‘canon’ so it’s never ever tagged and 2. This type of thing can have an actual effect on actual real people.

Again, this wouldn’t be an issue if there was a wider range of stories in the fandom.  I’ve seen people saying that the Scandinavian fics are much better in this way and that they use those tropes much less so there’s no problem with diversity of ideas in the fandom.  And that’s fantastic, it really is.  I’m genuinely happy for the people who can read those (and I really want more translated and/or to learn enough language so I could read them).  Unfortunately, many people are like me and can’t read them so we are all stuck with the English language fics.  Equally unfortunately, a lot of those fics fall into these tropes.  Many of them include just small moments where some small thing is casually dropped in as if it’s ‘just how it is.’  Isak swims in Even’s clothes, Isak is tiny, Isak has to stand on tiptoes to kiss Even etc etc.  None of these, by themselves, is inherently bad.  The problem comes when they are piled on top of each other, fic after fic (and indeed art after art).  When this is 90% of what we see in fic it becomes a pattern, and soon it becomes accepted as truth.  Except that, in the actual show, none of those things is the truth.  

I’ve said it before, but many of these accepted things are not correct: In canon, Isak and Even share clothes and they fit both of them fine, Isak is shorter than Even but he’s not so tiny that tiptoes are necessary for kissing.  And the major issue with such revisions as if they were canon is that they all play into a certain set of stereotypes.  And those stereotypes all serve to put our m/m pairing in a very heteronormative position.  They trap Isak in the ‘weak, submissive, spoiled, nagging bottom’ role and Even is forced into the ‘dominant, aggressive, controlling, forceful top’ role.  And none of those things is either inherent in the physical attributes of the characters (even if physical attributes reflected stereotypical personality traits, which they don’t) or a true reflection of the characters’ personalities.  Even isn’t aggressive or domineering.  He’s not controlling.  He runs away from his issues rather than facing them, and he hates being controlled.  He’s unlikely to enjoy doing to others what he hates having done to him.  Isak, on the other hand, can be an aggressive little asshole who would punch someone if they looked at him or his boyfriend in the wrong way.  In terms of personality (again, if personality truly reflected these stereotypes, which it doesn’t), it would make much more sense for those roles to be reversed.  Canon Isak acts much more like the ‘top’ in these tropes, and canon Even (gentle, kind, avoidant Even) is closer to the ‘bottom’ stereotype.  (For the record, I’m not advocating for merely turning the tropes on their heads and just having Isak be the strong, dominant one and Even the weak, submissive one; they may be closer to those stereotypes but they still don’t fit into these sets of personality traits.  They’re both strong and confident in some ways and very vulnerable in others.  This is just saying that even if we were sticking to the stereotypes, the way each role is usually ascribed makes little sense with our canon characters). These are such complex, layered, rounded, human characters that reducing them to these ideas seems so limiting; by doing so, we lose so much of what makes them such interesting and powerful characters.  There’s also the fact that, as shown in this meta I wrote, Isak hates the feminized stereotype of gay people and would not thank us for putting him in that role.  And while that might make for a fascinating character study, that’s not what tends to happen in fic.  What tends to happen is that this dynamic is just accepted as true and assumed to be the way things are.  I’d actually love to see a fic where a deeply internally homophobic Isak comes to terms with actually enjoying being a ‘feminine’ gay man (If anyone knows one, please feel free to let me know about it).  But it’s not canon and it’s not what the bulk of fics with this type of Isak are doing.

Now I’m being a little facetious here because, of course, Isak is fictional and his wishes and preferences don’t mean anything except to add a layer of irony to this now-accepted and common idea (unless we’re trying to write a canon Isak in which case we should really pay attention to what he thinks and feels).  But there is a group of people who are affected by this stuff -- lgbt+ people in fandom.  This group is exposed to these ideas over and over and over again.  This group will be taking on these ideas little by little.  No one fic or artwork by itself is an issue, of course.  No one person is ‘the problem’ just like none of us is perfect (I’m here to say I’m sure I’ve fallen, and will fall, into some of this stereotyped stuff myself despite trying not to, and I know I’m horrible at tagging in particular and am trying to get better).  But the problem is that when this is the message, over and over again, it’s very hard to think outside or see outside it.  No matter what fandom we lgbt+ people fetch up in, this message is always there.  And much like Isak in the show, we lgbt+ people in fandom are exposed mostly to this certain set of tropes, this idea that there is an actual defined and acceptable role for gay or other lgbt+ people to take on.  That one character is, and always will be, smaller, weaker, often younger, and therefore more submissive and that the other is, and always will be, larger, stronger, often older, and therefore more dominant.  This is not inherently true, not in real life; people don’t fit into sets of stereotypes and lgbt+ couples don’t inherently have one who is always top and one who is always bottom.  Again, this wouldn’t be an issue except that when we do this, we imply that those actual real life lgbt+ relationships also have a dichotomy which feminizes one half of the pairing in a way that can be harmful when it’s all that’s presented.

In itself, this idea is an issue because it says all relationships fit into the same narrow set of dichotomies.  This isn’t actually a good message for anyone in any relationship (and many heterosexual texts shoehorn similar roles into many romances too), but it’s worse when the relationship portrayed is lgbt+ because it implies rigid gender roles where, by definition, they don’t exist.  It’s also true that even while we see these tropes in heterosexual romances as well, straight people have a much wider diversity in the way their relationships are portrayed.  However, there are far more limited representations for lgbt+ people, particularly in traditionally published, or broadcast, media.  That means that when they turn to fanfiction and the bulk of what they see is this very narrow set of tropes, it’s hard not to take on board those messages.  Isak himself is a good example of why this is bad as I said in that internalized homophobia meta I linked earlier.  He stays in the closet much longer than he might otherwise have done because he had such a narrow set of models of what it means to be gay.

Then, of course, there is the way that the smaller one in the pair can end up being fetishized.  He is always the one who is made to wear the feminine clothing, he is the one whose body is most often exposed in art, he is the one who then acts in a very stereotyped ‘feminine’ way in fic.  These fetishized moments are deeply uncomfortable to come across as an lgbt+ person and it’s an extra unfortunate byproduct of these ways of lgbt+ people being represented.  So while, yes, everyone has a right to write what they like when they’re putting their work out onto the internet for free, it’s also nice for us to take a step back and look at the wider context.  Because none of this happens in a vacuum, and as individuals and as a fandom it can pay to take that step back and ask why this is our preference.  It may seem like a small thing to write a small physical characteristic change which makes one or the other character seem smaller or weaker (or alternatively bigger or stronger) but as part of a wider pattern it all builds on everything else we put out there and creates a fandom where a lot of what we consume just cements in a set of expectations of what it means to be lgbt+ that is then very hard to see past.  

I’m not saying no-one should ever write these fics, of course.  If we want to write Isak being small and needing to go on tiptoes, then we should go for it, but we should be aware of why we’re writing that way (and maybe find a way to put Even on his tiptoes; everyone deserves a good tiptoe kiss moment!)  If we want to write D/s sex, we should do it, but maybe we need to think a bit about how we’re presenting it.  Is it healthy?  Is it properly negotiated?  Why have we decided which character should be in which role?  Stopping and thinking a little can only help the creative output in the fandom; it can give us a wider range of reading and viewing material to choose from, and it makes us more aware of what we as a fandom are doing.  The Harry/Draco fandom in Harry Potter apparently turned this around, moved away from a rigid idea of who was top and who was bottom (and who was dom and who was sub) and it’s flourishing even now, so many years after its canon is over.  If we want to flourish into the future too, maybe we can diversify a little more and be a little more thoughtful and respectful of the people this fandom is supposed to represent, too.  To the lgbt+ people in fandom, who deserve to see ourselves in as much variety as straight people do and who do not deserve to see ourselves fetishized and reduced to tropes over and over again, this could mean a lot.

[academiablogs]

Is Greatness Subjective? Not If We’re Talking Books...

When I was younger, I loved the moment before I started writing a story. When I had the idea, but not the words. In that never-never land of thought and possibility, I could be on the verge of writing the greatest story in existence (or at least in my genre). However, the second I put down a word, then a sentence, then a page, the percentage would fall. 80% chance of writing a masterpiece...65%... 15%...and on down to, “well, it’s a book one or two people might love.” Once I inevitably got to the end of the story, or even the end of a long process of editing, what I had was far from a masterpiece. I would even debate if I could comfortably call it “good.” Somehow, it seemed to lack that quality that all great writing had, even though I had kept those ideas in mind as I wrote. Yet what I ended up with was merely okay, a flawed hodgepodge of good intentions. Not a great work of art.

Over the years, I’ve often challenged myself to define the difference between “good” and “great” works of art, particularly in writing. I’ve read so many books over the course of three degrees and forty-four years, and though I’ve enjoyed many of them, only a few dozen would qualify as truly “great.” Because it’s not subjective (not entirely), and it’s not just about enjoyment or pushing an individual’s buttons. No, great writing is something quantifiable, something you can notice and examine and emulate (even if it’s impossible to replicate). And of course, you might strongly dislike a work even while knowing with every page this is a great work of art. I’ve done it—disliked, even hated, a masterpiece. Because “loving” can’t be the sole criteria of art, or even a viable one. There has to be more to telling stories and crafting sentences than falling in love.

Here are a few criteria I’ve compiled over the years to determine the worth of a truly great book—though note that these are rough sketches, rather than definitive rules.

#1: A Great Book Loves Language

By this I mean that the writer enjoys writing for the sake of writing. Words mean something, and are not just empty vehicles to drive a story. Even a writer who hoards his or her words and writes very succinctly can do this. But as you read, note how the sentences unfold. Read them out loud. At some point, the words should dazzle you, the sentences should drive you wild. There have to be passages that make you think, “I know what he/she is saying but I never thought about it like that!” In short, some of the prose should occasionally read like poetry. And poetry isn’t just ornate like Shakespeare or Milton; e.e. Cummings and Raymond Carver also wrote poetry. And both of them loved language.

#2: A Great Book Initially Seems Wrong 

Ever picked up a book and thought, “what the hell is this writer doing? You can’t start a book like that? You can’t switch narrators like that? You can’t end a scene like that? You can’t use the tropes like this!” No one is more opinionated or dogmatic than readers, particularly in genre fiction. We like books to follow carefully prescribed rules and enforce these rules zealously as self-appointed gatekeepers. Great writers, however, like to experiment; they simply can’t help themselves. They like to subvert, to turn upside-down, to tell a story backwards instead of forward. Sometimes, granted, the experiments don’t work or seem pretentious. But when they do, it changes the way we think about books. Great writers always challenge the way a story is told and why we read them. Behind every great book is a ton of bad reviews and skeptical readers. Until someone finally gets it and goes, “we should have been doing this from the beginning!” And then we do.

#3: A Great Book Knows Other Books and Traditions

This seems obvious, but it’s vitally important. When you read a great book, you can see/hear the other books and stories behind it. They not only make allusions to other works, but write variations on familiar themes and characters, illustrating that great writing comes from reading other great writing. Too many books pretend that they’re the only book in existence, that they exist in a vacuum, and worse still, that they’re not really writing a book. A book should read like a book (not a movie, or TV show, or something else); the writer should tell us, “look, we’re reading and writing a book together. So what usually happens in books? Let’s play with that.” Epic fantasy should be aware of the titans of Homer, Tolkein, Lord Dunsany, and scores of others in the rear view mirror. You don’t have to tells us you’ve read them (that’s boring and pretentious), but show us by how you tell your tale and the conversation you have with your characters. Good readers will figure it out.

#4: A Great Book Teaches 

Take this one with a grain of salt. Yes, books can simply be entertaining and “art for art’s sake.” But even so,  a great book teaches you something about yourself, or the world, or the genre in question. The authors can’t help it. A great book is so involved in the tradition of story telling and the interior lives of its characters that education will inevitably result. It’s like a teacher who goes into a classroom exhausted, burned out, but encounters a classroom of eager students who read the book and wants to have a meaningful conversation about it. Within minutes the teacher will be in love with life again. Ideas will spark up and the teacher will see connections that previously eluded him/her—as well as the students. When a writer is confronted by great ideas, more ideas result. Many of these ideas will be new to us and will change how we see the world.

#5: A Great Book Scratches an Itch

Simply put, a great book sees something that we’re all interested in, or worried about, or wanting to talk about but were afraid to speak up. The great book says all of these things and scratches that cultural itch. You can see this happen in real time. When a book explodes, it’s because it’s found one of our itches and goes to town scratching it. Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Martian—these are all books that figured out what we worry and dream about and repackaged it for us in the most engaging, readable form. You can pooh-pooh these books all you like, and even question whether they’re that “great” at all (and this criteria alone wouldn’t make a book great). However, there’s no arguing with society...we know what we know, and when we embrace a book whole hog, there’s more than voyeurism behind it.

Are there more criteria than this? Certainly. Could there be a great book that defies all of these criteria? Probably so. However, I encourage you to define great books without recourse to phrases such as “because I loved it,” or “I thought it sucked.” There are brilliant people in the world who you simply don’t like; they might even be assholes in private. However, being smart isn’t subjective—it can be proven, if not with degrees than with actions and results. The same is equally true of books. A book might turn you off or alienate you, but that doesn’t make it bad. In fact, the book that pisses you off the most might be the greatest book you’ve ever read. Think about it...

[troped-fanfic-challenge]

Author Reveal of the Chopped 3.0 Round 2: Science Fiction Fics

The Tropes:

Based on a TV Show/Movie

Reunion

Kiss to keep cover/keep a secret

Forehead touches

———

and i’ll never say i love you (but i meant it all along) by @bellamysgriffin (Rated T) [Bellamy/Clarke] {Black Mirror}

Summary: When Coach, a dating system that pairs you with someone for an allotted amount of time and gives no way to bypass its rules, matches Bellamy and Clarke together, they find an immediate dislike for the other. Luckily, they only have to spend twelve hours together and then they can go their separate ways.

That is, until Coach matches them again. And again. And again. Until they start to wonder if something deeper is going on.

Or, Bellamy and Clarke in Hang the DJ

Per Aspera Ad Astra [Through Hardship to the Stars] by @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold (Rated G) [Bellamy/Clarke] {The Vast of Night}

Summary: It’s boredom one fateful night that leads Clarke Griffin to ditching the first basketball game of the season. That same boredom then leads to her choosing to hang out with one Bellamy Blake – which should feel weirder than it is since they haven’t really been friends since his sister’s disappearance two years ago.

But then their night really takes a turn.

The two of them discover a strange audio frequency that could change the small town of Arkadia, New Mexico – and the future – forever. Dropped phone calls, forgotten tapes, and strange lights follow Bellamy and Clarke as they race through the night on a scavenger hunt to discover the truth. That maybe there was something more to Octavia’s disappearance, maybe there’s more to their friendship than being just friends, and that maybe they aren’t as alone in the universe as they thought.

through the muted waves by @the-most-beautiful-broom (Rated T) [Murphy/Emori] {The Tomorrow People}

Summary: Scientists call the Tomorrow People the next stage of human evolution, the government denies their existence, but their cocktail of psionic abilities have made homo superiors the target of Eligius. Even though Eligius has closed the project that allows Tomorrow People to override their genetic inability to kill, they still relentlessly hunt them, desperate to neutralize their abilities. When Murpy wakes up in Eligius headquarters, he knows he’s returned for a reason…if only he could understand his connection to the brown-eyed girl who keeps cropping up on the corners of his memory.

in the red snares by @justbecauseyoubelievesomething (Rated T) [Octavia/Lincoln] {Buffy the Vampire Slayer}

Summary: The prevailing theory around the existence of Slayers (her existence) is that a variation of the alien parasite the miners unearthed deep in the Sub Stratum started infecting hosts in order to combat the vampire parasite. Octavia scoffs at the thought. The theory is probably right, especially since Monty is pretty confident in it, but she still hates the whole thing. The Slayer parasite really needs an upgrade in her opinion.

The Cockroach by @mobi-on-a-mission (Rated T) [Murphy/Emori] {The Martian}

Summary: “This is the cockroach hailing Mission Team Alpha. It’s Sol 30 here on good ol’ Planet Alpha. Not that it’s really a planet, but eh whatever. Technicalities, right? Anyway. Systems check. Arm: healing. Bugs: normal. Radio: shitty. Attitude: good.”

I’m No Hero by @queenemori (Rated T) [Murphy/Emori] {X-Men: Days of Future Past}

Summary: It’s 2052 and Reapers are wreaking havoc on mutants and humans alike. Murphy is recruited by Kane and Jaha to go back in time to prevent Octavia Blake from starting an international crisis that made the future much worse. But going back to the past comes with some side effects, mainly having to do with some relationships that Murphy left on bad terms.

from angels or devils by @dylanobrienisbatman (Rated T) [Octavia Blake] {Warrior Nun}

Summary: Octavia was dead, and then she wasn’t. The nuns say it was the gift of an angel, but they may not know as much as they claim.

Will she be able to learn to channel it’s gifts, or will she be claimed by the villain who has followed the Halo through time and space?

Can’t Tell if this is True or Dream by @kuklash (Rated M) [Echo/Gabriel] {The X-Files}

Summary: “Do you understand your mission, agent?” A cloud of smoke punctuated the Director’s question, streaming from his mouth in thick, grey ribbons.

“I am to evaluate the necessity of the work Dr. Santiago is doing and report back at the conclusion of the investigation,” Echo repeated her instructions. Her lungs filled with second-hand smoke and she stifled a cough.

“I hope you appreciate the delicacy of this mission, Echo.” His intense gaze bore a hole into her’s. “Gabriel is not to know the nature of your assignment.”

She met his gaze with equal intensity as she stood up to leave.

“I understand, sir.”

There are some things written in the stars by @changingthefairy-tale (Rated G) [Bellamy/Clarke] {Timeless}

Summary: Dear Bell,

I know you have a million questions. When I planned to come see you in Sau Paulo, I knew I wouldn’t have much time, and there was just too much I wanted to say. But also so much I knew I couldn’t. My only hope is that this journal answers some of your questions, and by some miracle saves your life.

My name is Clarke Griffin, a historian. We’ve never met before today, in your time at least. In 2019, I would be just starting my professorship at Arkadia University back in the states. That’s honestly the only reason Murphy didn’t fight me on seeing you — no chance that I’d cross paths with myself. He wouldn’t have been able to stop me, mind you. But he’s definitely the better pilot, so I’m glad he was on board.

I’m getting away from myself. It’s hard to remember a time when you didn’t just instinctively know what I was thinking. It’s felt a little like you’ve just known me my whole life, the way we’ve always been in sync. Let me start from the beginning, just rip the bandaid off…

Or the “Timeless” AU you never knew you needed. Submitted as part of the Chopped Challenge: Round 2.

Healing AIs, Healing Hearts by @spacekrulesbians (Rated T) [Octavia/Raven] {Heartland}

Summary: Raven and her mother were a perfect team, working with damaged and mistreated AIs and tech. When tragedy strikes, however, Raven has to figure out how to make it on her own. And then there’s that new assistant her mom hired, making things interesting.

inconceivable by @kindclaws (Rated T) [Bellamy/Clarke] {The Princess Bride}

Summary: The first touch of his fingers on her wrists makes her whole body shiver. She’s so painfully aware of him being just behind her, of the wonder and the impossibility of his existence here, that she has to remind herself to keep breathing as he slowly picks apart the knots binding her hands together. “If I turn around, will you be gone?” she murmurs. “Is this a bad dream? Will you be dead again when I wake up?”

“I’m real,” he says softly, and finally the last knot falls away and her hands are free.

It’s practically inconceivable.

(Chopped 3 presents: The Princess Bride. In space, bitches.)

———

All the winners can be found here.

Thank you all so much for participating this round! This was one of favorite rounds to plan and we are so glad you all enjoyed writing! Your talent continues to blow us away! Now that winners and authors have been revealed feel free to blog about your fics and don’t forget to tag us!

We hope you all will join us for Round 3: Fantasy! Those Tropes drop at Midnight tonight.

[hotgirlinahotcar]

* headcanon free-for-all

tagged by: several of you for other things (that are started but still in my drafts...). And with all of y’all already tagged in those too... instead of re-tagging the same people for the same stuff... new thing... tagging: @conviictus / @melioriisms​ | @cunninglinguistx​ | @governingmouse | @governinglion | @nicophaught | and everybody else who wants to | non-rp-blogs: just replace ‘your muse’ with one of your fav chars to write about notes: the following answers are heavily influenced by headcanons {d’oh} and whatnots and are subject to change if we ever actually find out more about Gidge...

♥ is there an article of clothing that means the most to your muse? Yep, several. Nope, not her jackets. All the special shirts and other garments that weren’t initially hers but somehow ended up in her possession for some reason or other... (except for stuff that was just discarded or forgotten at her place that ends up in her closet without having any special meaning to her).

❀ what does your muse’s daily routine look like? Most days Gidge gets up at the asscrack of dawn to go surfing - unless the weather won’t permit it (in which case she either goes back to sleep, wakes up her woman for a different kind of workout or catches up on chores and whatnot instead). After a quick shower she then shows up for work barely on time and spends her day there being her glorious sapphic psychologisty self... then after work there really isn’t much of a routine anymore, it’s more of a day to day thing... either back to the beach, or when stuff is piling up, it’s time for chores/errands/paperwork etc and she does the adulting thing. The nights that are all about her girl and spending time together doing whatever they feel like really are her favs though (especially when those also happen to include beachy-surfy and/or lesbionic stuffs). If she’s single though, she might turn her axe-effect up to 11 and hit some lezzie nests for starters... Just hanging out with friends in general is never a bad idea either. And of course the more or less sporadic lazy and quiet nights in are good for the soul too. Naturally, with a lifestyle like that, there also are the days when she’s just beyond exhausted because all that lack of sleep for various reasons caught up with her and she just goes to bed early to recharge properly.

◎ does your muse plan for the long-term or short-term? Both. Realistic goals and all that. Of course she’s only human though, so while she may have the sapphic psychologist skills professional knowledge beneficial to maintaining a healthy balance in general, advice is always easier given than taken. In consideration of that, in most matters, she not only encourages clients and friends alike but also tries to live by it herself. On the flip side of that, nothing wrong with indulging in occasional crazyass notions either. Even the wildest dreams come true for some people after all... In advice-mode she’d also insist on cautioning against actually expecting the more unrealistic stuff to happen though. Cause that kind of thinking has the potential of providing the ideal environment to the birth of delusions.

◆ what is one secret your muse has? Her girlfriend Franky is probably the biggest one... and the canon one... other than that, in verses where she did the pro-surfing circuit thing, it’s not so much of a secret as a part of her life that she just doesn’t share with people at work... with the long lost kid trope, there’d be that... then I have plenty of ideas about the reasons why she got into psychology in the first place... like being forced to go to a mental institution/straight camp when she was a teenager... as in shit was done to her there by the people who were supposed to help her and it becomes her calling to provide therapy done the right way and save people from suffering the likes of what she had to endure... lotsa stuff along those lines. And then there’s the ever classic infinite roulette game of insanity: ‘paid for college (or whatever) by being/got rich by being/gets off on being/leads a double life as/is undercover as/used to be/is mistaken for/pretends to be/wants to be/is forced to be/is being lured into becoming/is basically the same person {cause you’re playing the same muse - a stripper/porn star/lingerie & nude model/hooker/high class escort/assassin for hire/notorious thief/criminal in general/heir to a famous crime family/rockstar/other type of celebrity/is married to/divorced from/related to (somebody rich and famous)/vampire/mermaid/witch/werewolf/alien/ghost/superhero/immortal/time traveler/pirate/ninja/dinosaur/rocket ship/shark toast/swirly whirly junglepants/several or all of the above/is basically the same person {cause you’re playing the same muse - and somebody knows/finds out/stumbles over the intel/gets dragged into it/starts investigating by looking into something unrelated/gets an (anonymous) tip/comes from that world too (and is either keeping the same secret or the complete opposite, is well known for it/comes from another but equal/similar/conflicting/antagonistic situation/is basically the same person {cause you’re playing the same muse}’ {you get the point, these could all go on forever and range from slightly canon-divergent to the crackyassest bloody shit you could ever imagine... Now, I’m not saying I could imagine Gidge in any and all kinds of scenarios, but I’m never not up for at least spitballing, no matter how cracky and insane it might seem.} {Back to the serious side though, I love the whole secret thing so much, so there’s gazillions of headcanons/ideas that I have, but not too many that I’d just ascribe to Gidget in general, so it really depends on the thread.}

ϟ who means the most to your muse? why? Her girl. She’s the love of her life and the world wouldn’t make sense without her in it. And while Bridget had a life before her, since she met Franky/Lorraine/*insert your muse’s name if you wish*, she can’t imagine ever going back to that because she doesn’t even remember what she was living for before she experienced the love they have for each other. 

☛ what is your muse’s biggest regret? {I’m gonna leave this basically open for now because I think that would heavily depend on plot and thread and whatnot.} For example, if she did have a kid that she lost somehow, obvi it’d be that... but ‘kids are gross’ versions of her never even would’ve had said child and thus would have entirely different biggest regrets... ex pro-surfer Gidge might forever mourn the loss of that career and might not ever stop resenting whatever ended it... {so yeah, options, options, options... with variations... and alternatives... so just scroll back up to that roulette wheel and we’ll leave it at that until something specific comes along.}

❥ is your muse cool? She thinks she is anyway... XD Nah, she’s chill, but she def has that adorkable side too. Especially when she’s actively trying to be cool... like that ‘I’m not a screw’ scene... {Sorry babe, but your inner Elsa had her gloves on there...}

✯ which three traits define your muse? {Actually... lemme change this one a bit... you can do either version, whatever you prefer.} to be answered at some point in the not so distant future {So I just realized this is just gonna make this post a lot longer and doesn’t even quite fit in with the headcanon thing anymore anyway and can easily be a whole other tag thing by itself...}

♕ would your muse hug a monster? *smiles at @governinglion​ with wide open arms* {PS: Dude, we really should start talking about starting something... I even have a couple of ideas I’ve been meaning to shoot at ya but haven’t yet cause my ADD is playing fucking pinball with me atm...}

❣ is your muse a fighter or a lover? What’s with the ‘or’? It’s entirely possible to be both at the same time... Just sayin... So yeah, definitely both. Particularly so when the lover brings out the fighter. (That goes for kinkyass passion-motivated activities as well as the ‘my love for you will make me fight to the death and I ain’t letting nothing and no one get in my way’ thing.) 

✎ what does life mean to your muse? Biologically, she’s pro-choice. Philosophically... okay, yeah, nope... not gonna go there. To answer in some profound yet vague and still revealing way I’d have to write a fucking epos. So I’ll pass. Your call whether you wanna ponder the meaning of life or disregard this one too.

Disclaimer: Actually this was a meme before I misappropriated it for this. So all credit for the questions goes to whoever wrote them originally. @vhsmeme I think... I hope you don’t mind that I turned it into a tag thing instead. By the time I realized I should’ve fucking asked you first, I had already written most of the replies... so...

But yeah, not cool to just assume it’d be okay, and I acknowledge that. Sorry!-ish. In my defense tho... there’s a hugeass ‘free-for-all’ right there in the title... I just realized that... XD